@article{17767,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Antibodies, Bacterial, Child, Disaccharides, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Glycolipids, Humans, Immunity, Cellular, India, Leper Colonies, Lepromin, leprosy, Male, Mycobacterium leprae, Serum Albumin, Bovine},
  author = {Shah D H and Vartak R R and Naik S S and Dandekar S R and Ganapati R},
  title = {Epidemiological studies in children of a low-endemic region, a high-endemic region, and dwellers of a leprosy colony: evaluation of anti-ND-BSA antibodies and lepromin response.},
  abstract = {<p>Children residing in a low-endemic region (LER), a high-endemic region (HER), and a leprosy colony contact population (CP) were evaluated for lepromin response as well as reactivity to the Mycobacterium leprae-specific synthetic antigen, ND-BSA. The mean reactivity to ND-BSA in the LER group (OD 0.03 +/- 0.03, N = 71) was significantly lower (p &lt; 0.001) than that in the contact population (OD 0.14 +/- 0.09, N = 140) as well as the population residing in the HER (OD 0.09 +/- 0.08, N = 1340). ELISA-positive results were the highest (21.4%) with the CP group and lowest (0.0%) in the LER group, suggesting that it was a measure of the extent of exposure of M. leprae. In the contact population, females showed a preponderance for ELISA positivity over males (p &lt; 0.005), a finding not observed with the HER population. The Mitsuda responses showed a Gaussian-type distribution in all of the three populations examined with the mean response being highest in the LER (6.0 mm +/- 2.9) and lowest in the HER (4.5 mm +/- 2.0) groups. The percent positivity for the Mitsuda reaction was found to be highest in the LER (93.0%) and lowest in the HER (88.3%) groups. The Mitsuda response thus appears to be independent of M. leprae exposure, and its interpretation in a given population needs consideration of several factors, such as nutritional, environmental, etc.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)</p>
},
  year = {1994},
  journal = {International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association},
  volume = {62},
  pages = {539-46},
  month = {1994 Dec},
  issn = {0148-916X},
  url = {http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v62n4a06.pdf},
  language = {eng},
}