01769nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002600055653003000081653001800111653003800129653001100167653001200178653002500190100001100215700001100226700001300237700001200250700001000262700001100272700001100283700001100294245014100305300001100446490000700457520098900464022001401453       1985                            d  c1985 Dec10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aBlood Specimen Collection10aEar, External10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae1 aWu Q X1 aYe G Y1 aZhou L L1 aShu H W1 aLiu Q1 aLi X Y1 aMa Z X1 aLi Z W00aDetermination of antibodies in dried blood from earlobes of leprosy patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay--a preliminary report.  a565-700 v533 a<p>An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used with soluble antigens of Mycobacterium leprae. All blood samples collected from the earlobes of 109 leprosy patients and 100 healthy controls (from a non-endemic area of leprosy) were absorbed with M. vaccae, BCG, cardiolipin, and lecithin according to the technology of the FLA-ABS test before being tested in the ELISA. The results (at a 1:200 blood dilution) showed that antibody activity gradually increased from TT to LL (mean OD values: TT = 0.43, BT = 0.62, BB = 0.72, BL = 0.84, LL = 0.89), and the rates of positive reactions were 100% in all classifications of patients except TT (66.6%). Antibody activity in the controls was less pronounced than in leprosy patients, their mean OD value being only 0.15. We suggest that the ELISA is highly sensitive and specific for the determination of anti-M. leprae antibodies, and is useful for clinical serodiagnosis and for the study of subclinical infections in leprosy.</p>  a0148-916X