01981nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002600055653002400081653002000105653002000125653003800145653001100183653002600194653001200220653001800232653002400250653002500274653002400299100001600323700001800339700001600357700001200373700001200385245008900397300001100486490000700497520113700504022001401641       1994                            d  c1994 Jun10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntigens, Bacterial10aCorynebacterium10aCross Reactions10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aHumans10aImmunoelectrophoresis10aleprosy10aMycobacterium10aMycobacterium bovis10aMycobacterium leprae10aSpecies Specificity1 aBaelden M C1 aBouckaert A E1 aGrégoire D1 aPoele M1 aCoene M00aComparison of thermostable macromolecular antigens from leprosy-associated bacteria.  a508-120 v403 a<p>Three types of bacteria are associated with leprosy: Mycobacterium leprae, leprosy-derived corynebacteria (LDC), and armadillo-derived mycobacteria (ADM). The immunological relationships between these three types of bacteria and Mycobacterium bovis BCG, used as a reference, were determined by cross-immunoelectrophoresis. When compared with the reference, cross-reactions were observed with a variable number of antigens: 2 in the case of strain LDC 15, 4 with M. leprae, and from 1 to 10 in the case of the ADM, depending on their subgroup. Next, thermostable macromolecular antigens (TMAs), the major cross-reactive antigens of leprosy-associated bacteria, were compared by anti-TMA antibody ELISA tests. The LDC TMAs displayed high cross-reactivity between the subgroups and lower cross-reactivity with the TMAs of M. bovis BCG. Evidence for the presence of a species-specific moiety in TMA of the different LDC was obtained by using depleted anti-TMA antisera. Western blot analysis revealed the presence of many proteins in the TMAs of LDC and M. bovis BCG, some of them being species-specific and other cross-reactive.</p>  a0008-4166