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PMID: 153335 Published · ppublish English Comparative Study Journal Article

Lymphocyte transformation test in leprosy: decreased lymphocyte reactivity to Mycobacterium leprae in lepromatous leprosy, with no evidence for a generalized impairment.

Infection and immunity ·Vol. 22 ·No. 3 ·1978-12-00 ·Pages 649-56

Faber WR, Leiker DL, Nengerman IM, Zeijlemaker WP, Schellekens PT

Abstract

Untreated leprosy patients were examined with respect to lymphocyte transformation in vitro after stimulation with mycobacterial and other microbial antigens, allogeneic lymphocytes, or nonspecific mitogens. Methods were used to circumvent technical variability. The results were compared with those obtained in controls matched for age, sex, race, and environment. No evidence was found for a generalized impairment of lymphocyte transformation in vitro, whereas a specific defect towards Mycobacterium leprae was demonstrable in lepromatous leprosy patients. The response to M. leprae, investigated in untreated and treated leprosy patients, decreased along the leprosy spectrum. Moreover, the results of the one-way mixed lymphocyte cultures showed that lymphocytes from leprosy patients had a normal stimulator and responder capacity, when they were tested against a panel of allogeneic lymphocytes. The influence of serum factors was investigated in untreated leprosy patients in the mixed lymphocyte culture. On average, tuberculoid as well as lepromatous sera showed a low-level depressive effect, but some sera showed a stimulatory effect. Therefore, a depressive effect of serum factors cannot be considered to be a general feature of leprosy. The correlation between the Mitsuda type of lepromin skin test and the lymphocyte reactivity in vitro to M. leprae was studied, and a positive correlation was found.

MeSH Terms
Antigens, Bacterial Blood Humans Lepromin Leprosy/immunology Lymphocyte Activation Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed Mycobacterium leprae/immunology
Chemicals
Antigens, Bacterial Lepromin
Authors & Affiliations
5 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Faber W R
Leiker D L
Nengerman I M
Zeijlemaker W P
Schellekens P T
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40 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
Infection and immunity
Abbr.
Infect Immun
ISSN
0019-9567
DOI
10.1128/iai.22.3.649-656.1978
Published
1978-12-00
Pages
649-56
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0246127
PMCID
PMC422209
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/iai.22.3.649-656.1978 PMC Full Text View journal details
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