01933nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653001000051653000900061653001200070653001500082653003100097653001000128653002700138653001100165653001300176653001200189653002500201653001600226653002500242653002500267653001100292100001100303700002000314700001400334245015100348300001000499490000700509050001400516520103900530022001401569       1983                            d  c198310aAdult10aAged10aAnimals10aArmadillos10aBacteriological Techniques10aBlood10aChemical Precipitation10aHumans10aLepromin10aleprosy10aMicroscopy, Electron10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium leprae10aPolyethylene Glycols10aSepsis1 aSaha K1 aChakraborty A K1 aPrakash N00aA quick method of demonstrating bacillaemia in patients with lepromatous leprosy and ultrastructural studies of the circulating acid-fast bacilli.  a660-40 v77  aSAHA 19833 a<p>While studying circulating immune complexes (CIC) in the sera of lepromatous patients by the polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation technique, we found (by light microscopy) abundant acid-fast bacilli (AFB), morphologically similar to those seen in slit skin smear preparations from these patients, precipitated with the PEG precipitated materials. Both solid and non-solid AFB could be readily identified. Ultrastructures of these AFB in the PEG aggregates showed some similarity with those detected in the PEG precipitates prepared from armadillo-derived lepromin under identical conditions. The most striking difference between the AFB in the test sera and that in the armadillo-derived lepromin was the absence of any transverse band in the former. This suggested that the AFB in the patients' circulation were not in division stage. Furthermore, electron-dense material were deposited on the AFB co-precipitated from the patients' sera, which were not found on the AFB co-precipitated from the armadillo-derived lepromin.</p>  a0035-9203