(P405) Peptidylarginine deiminase 2 has potential as a biomarker of neurosyphilis

Background: The diagnosis for neurosyphilis still lacks a “gold standard”. Peptidylarginine deiminases (PAD2) is a member of peptidylarginine deiminases, and mainly participants in neurodegenerative diseases. However, the role of PAD2 remains unknown in neurosyphilis.



Methods: One hundred and five incident patients with neurosyphilis, 70 non-neurosyphilis and 15 healthy controls were retrospectively enrolled by Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital for this retrospective study. After all patients underwent lumbar puncture, Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected and CSF PAD2, CSF WBC count, CSF protein and CSF VDRL titer were assessed. Kaplan-Meier curve and logistic regression analyses were used to predict survival and the predictors for neurosyphilis.



Results: During a follow-up of 12 months, 115 patients had an event. The event was defined as clinical worsening, including no improvement in symptoms or laboratory indicators, hospitalization or initiation of a new active therapy because of worsening disease. The median concentration of CSF PAD2 in neurosyphilis patients was 336.8 ng/mL, which is higher than that in non-neurosyphilis group (101.3 ng/mL, P< 0.001). Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that CSF PAD2, CSF WBC count and CSF protein were independent risk factors for neurosyphilis. In Kaplan Meier curve analyses, elevated CSF PAD2 level, CSF WBC count and CSF protein level predicted a poor outcome for patients with neurosyphilis.



Conclusions: Our results highlight the potential of PAD2 as a potential biomarker, particularly for general paresis.