Use of synthetic cardiolipin and lecithin in the antigen used by the venereal disease research laboratory test for serodiagnosis of syphilis.

The Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test is a microflocculation test for syphilis that uses an antigen containing cardiolipin, lecithin, and cholesterol. For more than 50 years, the preparation of natural cardiolipin and lecithin for this test has been based on the Pangborn method which involves isolating and purifying these components from beef hearts. This process is tedious and time-consuming and results in a variable purity range. In our studies, we found that a VDRL antigen using synthetic tetramyristoyl cardiolipin and synthetic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (lecithin) was as specific in detecting syphilis as a VDRL antigen made with natural components. In 85% of the cases, we obtained an endpoint titer of 1/2 or 1 dilution more than a titer obtained with a VDRL antigen made with natural components. The use of these pure synthetic compounds, with a purity of 99%, would offer advantages in the standardization and stability of the VDRL antigen. Because this antigen is the basic ingredient in the preparation of nontreponemal reagents such as the rapid plasma reagin, toluidine red unheated serum test, and the unheated serum reagin, the use of this synthetic VDRL antigen should also increase the reactivity of these reagents.