@article{96415,
  keywords = {Leprosy contacts, Anti-PGL-I, serum IgA, serum IgG, serum IgM},
  author = {Albuquerque AA and Mateus C and Rodrigues R and Lima É and Lima L and da Silva R and Fernandes M and Casimiro de Macedo A and Tavares CM and Nogueira P and Nagao-Dias AT},
  title = {Can anti-PGL-I antibody isotypes differentiate leprosy contacts and leprosy patients?},
  abstract = {<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Serological tests for antibody measurement in leprosy have a series of limitations in discriminating contacts and patients. The present paper intends to evaluate if association of more than one antibody isotype in serum samples may be a useful tool in leprosy diagnosis.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This study evaluated 395 leprosy contacts and 71 leprosy index cases living in endemic municipalities in Northeastern Brazil. The participants were evaluated according to their anti-phenolic glycolipid antigen-I isotype (PGL-I) profile. Serum anti-PGL-I IgM, IgG, and IgA were measured by indirect ELISA.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>A strong association was found for antibody positivity in MB leprosy index cases. The odds ratios were 6.11 (95% CI 3.08 - 12.16) for IgM, 3.31 (1.66 - 6.61) for IgG, and 16.97 (8.39 - 34.2) for IgA. For IgM associated with one or more isotypes, the OR was 21.0 (95% CI 10.11 - 43.64), and for IgG + IgA, the OR was 17.58 (6.23 - 49.54). The highest diagnostic sensitivity of 76.0% (95% CI 61.8 - 86.9) was observed for IgM, and the lowest value was 24.1% (13.0 - 38.2), which was observed for IgG + IgA isotypes. Regarding presumptive positive predictive values, the lowest value was obtained for IgM at 24.7% (95% CI 18.1 - 32.3), and the highest values were observed for IgM+ one or more isotypes and for IgG + IgA isotype at 60.0% (44.3 - 74.3) and 66.7% (41.0 - 86.7), respectively.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>The present work demonstrated that by associating two or more positive antibody isotypes, the risk of facing a real case of leprosy may increase.</p>
},
  year = {2022},
  journal = {Pathogens and global health},
  pages = {1-8},
  month = {01/2022},
  issn = {2047-7732},
  doi = {10.1080/20477724.2021.2021045},
  language = {eng},
}