02443nas a2200385   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002600055653002400081653003800105653001600143653001100159653001200170653002200182653002500204653003200229100001000261700001900271700001700290700001400307700001500321700001200336700001500348700001200363700001500375700001400390700001300404245015800417856007200575300001100647490000700658050001300665520136500678022001402043       2008                            d  c2008 Dec10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntigens, Bacterial10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aGlycolipids10aHumans10aleprosy10aMembrane Proteins10aMycobacterium leprae10aSensitivity and Specificity1 aKai M1 aNguyen Phuc NH1 aHoang Thi TH1 aNguyen AH1 aFukutomi Y1 aMaeda Y1 aMiyamoto Y1 aMukai T1 aFujiwara T1 aNguyen TT1 aMakino M00aSerological diagnosis of leprosy in patients in vietnam by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with Mycobacterium leprae-derived major membrane protein II.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2593173/pdf/0148-08.pdf  a1755-90 v15  aKAI 20083 a<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>  a1556-679X