02649nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653002600070653002400096653001800120653003800138653001600176653001100192653002100203653001200224653002500236653001400261653002600275100001100301700001400312700001500326700001200341700001300353245011300366300001100479490000700490520181200497022001402309       1988                            d  c1988 Dec10aAntibodies10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntigens, Bacterial10aDisaccharides10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aGlycolipids10aHumans10aImmunoglobulin G10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aPrognosis10aSerum Albumin, Bovine1 aAgis F1 aSchlich P1 aCartel J L1 aGuidi C1 aBach M A00aUse of anti-M. leprae phenolic glycolipid-I antibody detection for early diagnosis and prognosis of leprosy.  a527-350 v563 a<p>Untreated patients suffering from tuberculoid, lepromatous and indeterminate leprosy, their domiciliary contacts, and healthy controls, all living in Guadeloupe, West Indies, were tested by an ELISA for detecting IgM antibodies to the terminal disaccharide of the phenolic glycolipid-I antigen of Mycobacterium leprae. On most subjects, a Mitsuda test was also performed. A large majority of the tuberculoid patients and healthy subjects were Mitsuda positive. The seropositivity rate reached 44% among tuberculoid patients, and 6% among healthy subjects, with low antibody levels. Lepromatous patients were all Mitsuda negative and seropositive, with antibody production varying from low levels, as seen in tuberculoid patients, to much higher levels. Indeterminate leprosy patients included 62% Mitsuda-positive subjects and 54% seropositive subjects with a large dispersion of antibody levels. Comparing the results of the Mitsuda test to those of the ELISA by factorial analysis allowed us to define several subgroups among this population: some (25%) showed a "lepromatous-like" immune status (Mitsuda negative, seropositive); others (54%) exhibited "tuberculoid-like" profiles (Mitsuda positive without antibodies or with low antibody levels). "Lepromatous-like" cases were significantly older than "tuberculoid-like" patients. A group of subjects (17%) was Mitsuda negative and seronegative, thus displaying a true "indeterminate" immune profile, which had not been seen in other forms of the disease and had been observed in only 2 out of 51 healthy controls. A large majority of contacts was Mitsuda positive, with 33% of them being seropositive, indicating that the prevalence of M. leprae infection greatly exceeds that of overt leprosy in this population.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)</p>  a0148-916X