Medicine: Syphilis Signal

Last week Biochemist Paul Leland Kirk of the University of California and a graduate student, Clifton Bennett, announced a sure, swift, new syphilis test. A sore trial for pathologists, the speedy test, invented in 1935 by Dr. George Franklin Laughlen of Toronto, Ont., was fussed over for four years before it could be made practical for general use. Using the new technique and “Laughlen antigen” in 150 syphilis blood samples, Professor Kirk called all the shots, made no false diagnoses.

Two or three drops of blood are taken from a finger or an ear lobe and centrifuged to remove all red blood cells. Then the clear serum is mixed with several drops of the antigen, a witches’ brew of benzoin (a resin from Java or Sumatra), cholesterol (alcohol which occurs in bile), scarlet red (a dye), plain salt water, and alcoholic beefheart extract. If syphilis antibodies are present in the blood, coarse particles develop in the colorless fluid, and clumps of red granules appear around the edges of the mixture. Since the reaction is clearly visible to the naked eye, no microscope is needed.

“Strong positive reactions,” said Professor Kirk, “appeared in some cases within one minute. Tests appearing within five minutes were considered . . . very strong. If no coagulation appeared in ten minutes, the test was negative. The complete method . . . yields final results within a maximum of 20 minutes from the time of receiving a patient, and this time may often be appreciably shortened.”

Dr. Kirk hopes that the test will soon be adopted by the health departments of 19 States which are bound by law to test all applicants for marriage licenses. Much cheaper than a Wassermann test (which takes a day), although requiring just as skilled attention, a Laughlen test should cost State health departments no more than 4¢. It may also be useful in making quick tests of the health of prospective blood donors when emergency transfusions are necessary—as they may be if World War II should develop into The Next War.