01617nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653002400051653002500075653002000100653001100120653001200131653002500143653002100168100001300189700001900202700001500221700001200236700001500248245008800263300001000351490000600361520097000367022001401337       1994                            d  c199410aAntigens, Bacterial10aCase-Control Studies10aCross Reactions10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aPrecipitin Tests1 aKode J A1 aChiplunkar S V1 aSamson P D1 aDeo M G1 aGangal S G00aImmunoprecipitation of mycobacterial antigens with sera from patients with leprosy.  a89-940 v93 a<p>Pooled sera from leprosy patients across the clinical spectrum, tuberculosis patients and healthy individuals were tested for their reactivity with antigens of Mycobacterium leprae and a panel of cultivable mycobacteria by immunoprecipitation technique. Sera from lepromatous leprosy patients demonstrated exclusive reactivity with the 26-kDa protein of M. tuberculosis H37Ra, 28-kDa protein of M. kansasii, 45-kDa protein of M. smegmatis, and 158, 40 and 14 kDa proteins of M. phlei. Sera from patients with borderline tuberculoid leprosy, tuberculoid leprosy, tuberculosis and health individuals failed to identify these antigens. Our studies indicate that analysis and characterization of immunodominant antigenic epitopes present on proteins of cultivable mycobacteria, sharing cross-reactive epitopes with M. leprae may prove to be important in the serodiagnosis of multibacillary leprosy as well as for developing vaccines for immunotherapy of leprosy.</p>  a0001-5938