The bacterium Treponema pallidum causes syphilis which is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Infection can lead to congenital infection with abortion, prematurity, neonatal death or multiple system abnormalities.
Treponema pallidum (scanning EM, Image CDC)
Syphilis has a worldwide incidence of 12 million infecting both men and women and can also be transmitted to the fetus causing developmental abnormalities and death. Penicillin is used to treat syphilis in the general public. This is a preventable disease. There is an excellent article covering the issue of congenital syphilis (1) in Australia published in the electronic Medical Journal of Australia (eMJA). Syphilis and Lyme disease are caused by different pathogenic spirochetes. Symptoms of this bacterial infection range from skin eruptions to complications of the heart and nervous system. (see also STD Notes)
Page Links: Introduction | Some Recent Findings | Congenital Syphilis | Congenital Syphilis Risk Factors | Genome | Gram Stain | Australian NHMRC Recommendations | WWW Links | References | Glossary
Donders GG. Management of genital infections in pregnant women. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2006 Feb;19(1):55-61.
Young child with congenital syphilis (Image CDC)
Arrows indicate intraoral mucous patches and skin lesions.
In the USA 81.3% (1998) of reported congenital syphilis cases occurred because the mother received no penicillin treatment or inadequate treatment before or during pregnancy (CDC data).
There are a number of risk factors for congenital syphilis:
Fraser CM, Norris SJ, Weinstock GM, White O, Sutton GG, Dodson R, Gwinn M, Hickey EK, Clayton R, Ketchum KA, Sodergren E, Hardham JM, McLeod MP, Salzberg S, Peterson J, Khalak H, Richardson D, Howell JK, Chidambaram M, Utterback T, McDonald L, Artiach P, Bowman C, Cotton MD, Venter JC, et a Complete genome sequence of Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete. Science 1998 Jul 17;281(5375):375-88
Bacterial staining procedure named after Hans Christian Gram (1853–1938). Generally divides bacteria into either:
Gram-positive bacteria purple crystal violet stain is trapped by layer of peptidoglycan (forms outer layer of the cell).
Gram-negative bacteria outer membrane prevents stain from reaching peptidoglycan layer in the periplasm, outer membrane then permeabilized and pink safranin counterstain is trapped by peptidoglycan layer.
Lactobacillus (gram-positive rods among squamous epithelial cells and neutrophils in vaginal smear, Image CDC)
Links: Medical Microbiology | American Society for Microbiology
The Australian NHMRC (1988) recommends neonates be assessed for follow-up care under the following conditions.
(see the NHMRC WWW Page)
CDC (USA)
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (UK)
Infection and Pregnancy - study group recommendations (Jun 2001)
Links: Reviews | Articles | Online Textbooks | Search Textbooks | Search PubMed | Glossary
Donders GG. Management of genital infections in pregnant women. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2006 Feb;19(1):55-61.
Goldenberg RL, Culhane JF, Johnson DC. Maternal infection and adverse fetal and neonatal outcomes. Clin Perinatol. 2005 Sep;32(3):523-59.
Berman SM. Maternal syphilis: pathophysiology and treatment. Bull World Health Organ. 2004 Jun;82(6):433-8.
Goldenberg RL, Hauth JC, Andrews WW. Intrauterine infection and preterm delivery. N Engl J Med. 2000 May 18;342(20):1500-7.
Ross SM. Sexually transmitted diseases in pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 1982 Dec;9(3):565-92.
Fraser CM, Norris SJ, Weinstock GM, White O, Sutton GG, Dodson R, Gwinn M, Hickey EK, Clayton R, Ketchum KA, Sodergren E, Hardham JM, McLeod MP, Salzberg S, Peterson J, Khalak H, Richardson D, Howell JK, Chidambaram M, Utterback T, McDonald L, Artiach P, Bowman C, Cotton MD, Venter JC, et a Complete genome sequence of Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete. Science 1998 Jul 17;281(5375):375-88
NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology - Syphilis Search |
Search PubMed
Search Jan2006 "fetal syphilis infection" 318 reference articles of which 68 were reviews.
Search PubMed: term = fetal syphilis infection
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These links require online access to Merck Manuals on Women's Health Issues. http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual_home2/sec22/sec22.jsp
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see also Normal Childhood Development
You should look at normal development of the effected systems in the embryo. Development Notes
Alternatively, go on to look at Systematic Development of organs and tissues.
For those wanting to see dynamic processes of development (and have a reasonably quick connection) then the Movies pages are good for watching changes occur.
The study of human development has relied extensively on studying the process in other model animals. For those wanting to see the process of development in other species then the other embryos pages are a good start.
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Maternal bacterial infections can impact on normal development and in some cases directly by crossing the placental barrier and infecting the developing embryo, or indirectly due to the impact on the mother, for example the effects of fever.
Information on this page is provided for Educational Purposes Only.
Often the developmental impact can be variable, depending on the time during development that the infection takes place, the "critical periods".
This page gives examples of a few known bacterial infections that can impact upon development (it is not a comprehensive list).
Information on this page is provided for Educational Purposes Only.
Please email Dr Mark Hill if you wish to make a comment about this current project.