01707nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002400055653001500079653001100094653001200105653002600117653002500143653002200168653001800190100001100208700001300219700001500232700001500247245011000262856009000372300001200462490000700474520093400481022001401415       1977                            d  c1977 Sep10aAntigens, Bacterial10aCell Count10aHumans10aleprosy10aLymphocyte Activation10aMycobacterium leprae10aRosette Formation10aT-Lymphocytes1 aNath I1 aCurtis J1 aSharma A K1 aTalwar G P00aCirculating T-cell numbers and their mitogenic potential in leprosy--correlation with mycobacterial load.  uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1541056/pdf/clinexpimmunol00235-0035.pdf  a393-4000 v293 a<p>The effect of treatment and mycobacterial load on circulating T-cell numbers and their functional ability was investigated in forty-one patients with leprosy. Both early binding T cells and their responses to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) were profoundly and uniformly depressed in untreated, and partially treated, bacilleferous lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients as compared with normal subjects and tuberculoid patients. On elimination of mycobacteria, subsequent to chemotherapy, LL patients regain normality in T-cell numbers and their functions. On the other hand, the specific response of lymphocytes to M. leprae did not alter with decrease in mycobacterial load. It appears that the decrease in T-cell numbers and the deficit in their mitogenic potential is a secondary consequence of disease and is related to the antigenic load in patients with lepromatous leprosy.</p>  a0009-9104