02005nas a2200289   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002600055653002700081653002400108653002500132653001100157653001200168653002500180653001400205653002100219653002800240100001200268700001500280700001100295700001300306245009900319300000900418490000700427520126700434022001401701       1985                            d  c1985 Mar10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntibodies, Monoclonal10aAutoimmune Diseases10aBinding, Competitive10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aNeoplasms10aRadioimmunoassay10aTuberculosis, Pulmonary1 aSinha S1 aSengupta U1 aRamu G1 aIvanyi J00aSerological survey of leprosy and control subjects by a monoclonal antibody-based immunoassay.  a33-80 v533 a<p>A serological antibody competition test (SACT) using a murine anti-Mycobacterium leprae-specific monoclonal antibody (ML04) has been evaluated in 96 untreated leprosy patients and 128 control subjects. The test is based on the competitive inhibition by antibodies from human test sera of the binding of the specific 125I-ML04 murine monoclonal antibody to M. leprae soluble antigen coated microtiter plates. Along the spectrum of the disease, SACT positivity was observed in 100% of LL-BL, 87.5% of BB, and 46.7% of the TT-BT groups of patients. Moreover, 46.4% of apparently healthy household family contacts of multibacillary leprosy cases were also antibody positive. Sera from 15 contacts of paucibacillary leprosy cases as well as from 85 various nonleprosy subjects (tuberculosis, autoimmune disease, cancer, and healthy) were all found to be negative. These results satisfy the requirements of a leprosy-specific serodiagnostic test. The striking increase of antibody titer in all of the LL/BL patients indicates a potential prognostic utility of this test for the lepromatous shift of the disease. The observed positivity in a fraction of healthy leprosy contacts still requires prospective evaluation of disease incidence in a larger test sample.</p>  a0148-916X