01572nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653001000065653002500075653001100100653001100111653003000122653001300152653001200165653000900177653001700186653001500203100001100218700001600229245014000245300000800385490000700393520088000400022001401280       1979                            d  c1979 Mar10aAdult10aChild10aDinitrochlorobenzene10aFemale10aHumans10aHypersensitivity, Delayed10aLepromin10aleprosy10aMale10aTime Factors10aTuberculin1 aSaha K1 aAgarwal S K00aImmune deficit in patients with lepromatous leprosy: its nature and relation to genetic factors, spectrum, and duration of the illness.  a1-60 v473 a<p>Cell-mediated immunity or hypersensitivity to M. leprae and other unrelated antigens, such as tuberculin and dinitrochlorobenzene, was studied in 73 leprosy patients of different histopathologic types. It was found that specific as well as nonspecific anergy intensified as the disease spectrum shifted from the tuberculoid toward the lepromatous immunologic pole. Within the lepromatous group, the impairment of cellular immunity became more pronounced as the bacillary load increased. It was found that the impairment of the cell-mediated immunity towards antigens other than M. leprae became more severe as the duration of the illness increased. Late lepromin responsiveness, which is the hallmark of resistance of an individual to M. leprae, may be absent even before the onset of clinical illness. Its deficit seems to be primary and has a genetic predisposition.</p>  a0148-916X