Studies on the influence of antigens on the results with the gonococcal complement fixation test in patients with uncomplicated and complicated gonorrhoea.

The gonococcal complement fixation test (GCFT) was investigated with regard to its sensitivity and specificity by testing serum specimens from (a) female patients attending a VD out-patient clinic because of suspected gonorrhoea, (b) patients with a proven, uncomplicated, urogenital gonococcal, infection, (c) patients with disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). Three different pools of gonococcal (GC) antigens were used which were comprised of GC strains from two different geographical areas. It was found that 39% of the females with culture-proven uncomplicated gonorrhoea had a positive GCFT whereas 10% of the females with negative GC cultures had a positive GCFT. The latter were found to have either a history of gonorrhoea or strong clinical suspicion of recent GC infection. One of the GC antigen pools gave a much lower diagnostic yield than the other two pools in the GCFTs with serum specimens from patients with uncomplicated gonorrhoea. However, no differences were found between the antigen pools in the tests with serum specimens from patients with DGI. These findings indicate the presence of various strain antigens participating in the immune response to complicated as well as uncomplicated GC infections. The results are presented in detail and discussed.