@article{9588,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Female, Humans, Immunity, Cellular, Leishmaniasis, Leishmaniasis, Visceral, leprosy, Leprosy, Borderline, Leprosy, lepromatous, Male, Middle Aged, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha},
  author = {Pisa P and Gennene M and Söder O and Ottenhoff T and Hansson M and Kiessling R},
  title = {Serum tumor necrosis factor levels and disease dissemination in leprosy and leishmaniasis.},
  abstract = {<p>It has been suggested that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) may serve as an important antigen-independent host defense mechanism against parasitic organisms. Sera from 66 patients with leishmaniasis and 68 patients with leprosy, all from Ethiopia, were tested for TNF alpha using an enzyme-linked immunoassay. Sera from patients with the multi-parasitic/bacillary type of disease (visceral or diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis and lepromatous leprosy), known to be associated with absent or low specific T cell response, contained significantly higher TNF alpha titers than those of patients with pauci-parasitic/bacillary disease (localized cutaneous leishmaniasis and nonlepromatous leprosy). High titers of TNF alpha in the absence of a functioning T cell response do not appear to confer resistance against Leishmania aethiopica and Mycobacterium leprae.</p>},
  year = {1990},
  journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
  volume = {161},
  pages = {988-91},
  month = {1990 May},
  issn = {0022-1899},
  doi = {10.1093/infdis/161.5.988},
  language = {eng},
}