Background: Syphilis is a chronic sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (T. pallidum), which is a public health problem that seriously affects human health worldwide. T. pallidum is characterized by early transmission and immune escape and is therefore termed an "invisible pathogen".
Methods: This review systematically summarizes the host's innate and adaptive immune responses to T. pallidum infection as well as the escape mechanisms of T. pallidum.
Purpose: To lay the foundation for assessing the pathogenic mechanism and the systematic prevention and treatment of syphilis.
Conclusion: The immune escape mechanism of T. pallidum plays an important role in its survival. Exploring the occurrence and development of these mechanisms has laid the foundation for the development of syphilis vaccine.
Keywords: Immune escape; Immune response; Outer membrane; Tpr; Treponema pallidum.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.