01770nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653002500080653001000105653001100115653001600126653002700142653003300169653001100202653001200213653000900225100001800234700001000252245008100262300001100343490000700354520111700361022001401478       1980                            d  c1980 Feb10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAntilymphocyte Serum10aChild10aFemale10aHepatitis B10aHepatitis B Antibodies10aHepatitis B Surface Antigens10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale1 aSerjeantson S1 aDry P00aLymphocytotoxins in leprosy and in asymptomatic hepatitis B virus infection.  a289-960 v393 a<p>Serum lymphocytotoxic antibodies (LCAs) were detected in 67% of Papua New Guinean lepromatous leprosy patients who were persistent carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Lymphocytotoxins were not associated with asymptomatic HBsAg in either healthy controls or tuberculoid leprosy patients. It was apparent that, although HBsAg itself is a poor indicator of in vitro lymphocytotoxicity, when the antigen occurred in a host with impaired immune response, lymphocytotoxicity, when the antigen occurred in a host with impaired immune response, lymphocytotoxicity was enhanced. In contrast to this finding, lepromatous leprosy patients without HBsAg had significantly depressed LCA production in comparison with tuberculoid patients and controls. The interaction between leprosy and hepatitis B virus was highly significant (P = 0.001) in an analysis of variance of cytotoxicity scores. It is proposed that the previously reported equivocal results regarding autoantibodies in leprosy patients may be explained by this unusual interaction between lepromatous leprosy and hepatitis B virus infection.</p>  a0009-9104