@article{1070,
  keywords = {Antibodies, Bacterial, Antigens, Bacterial, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Glycolipids, Humans, leprosy, Membrane Proteins, Mycobacterium leprae, Sensitivity and Specificity},
  author = {Kai M and Nguyen Phuc NH and Hoang Thi TH and Nguyen AH and Fukutomi Y and Maeda Y and Miyamoto Y and Mukai T and Fujiwara T and Nguyen TT and Makino M},
  title = {Serological diagnosis of leprosy in patients in vietnam by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with Mycobacterium leprae-derived major membrane protein II.},
  abstract = {<p>A serological diagnostic test using phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) developed in the 1980s is commercially available, but the method is still inefficient in detecting all forms of leprosy. Therefore, more-specific and -reliable serological methods have been sought. We have characterized major membrane protein II (MMP-II) as a candidate protein for a new serological antigen. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the MMP-II antigen (MMP-II ELISA) for detecting antibodies in leprosy patients and patients' contacts in the mid-region of Vietnam and compared to the results to those for the PGL-I method (PGL-I ELISA). The results showed that 85% of multibacillary patients and 48% of paucibacillary patients were positive by MMP-II ELISA. Comparison between the serological tests showed that positivity rates for leprosy patients were higher with MMP-II ELISA than with PGL-I ELISA. Household contacts (HHCs) showed low positivity rates, but medical staff members showed comparatively high positivity rates, with MMP-II ELISA. Furthermore, monitoring of results for leprosy patients and HHCs showed that MMP-II is a better index marker than PGL-I. Overall, the epidemiological study conducted in Vietnam suggests that serological testing with MMP-II would be beneficial in detecting leprosy.</p>},
  year = {2008},
  journal = {Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI},
  volume = {15},
  pages = {1755-9},
  month = {2008 Dec},
  issn = {1556-679X},
  url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2593173/pdf/0148-08.pdf},
  doi = {10.1128/CVI.00148-08},
  language = {eng},
}