02264nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653001500051653001000066653000900076653002600085653001100111653002000122653002000142653003800162653001100200653001600211653001100227653001200238653000900250653001600259653002500275653001700300100001300317700001400330700001600344245006100360300001000421490000700431520146200438022001401900       1993                            d  c199310aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aBrazil10aChronic Disease10aContact Tracing10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aFemale10aGlycolipids10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium leprae10aTime Factors1 aFoss N T1 aCallera F1 aAlberto F L00aAnti-PGL1 levels in leprosy patients and their contacts.  a43-510 v263 a<p>1. We determined the anti-PGL1 levels of 402 individuals from the Ribeirão Preto region since the phenolic glycolipid (PGL1) is a specific Mycobacterium leprae antigen. This group consisted of 47 leprosy patients (26 with the lepromatous form, 16 with the tuberculoid form and 5 with the borderline form), 12 tuberculosis patients, 19 leprosy contacts, and 324 healthy blood donors from the Hemocenter of the University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. Anti-PGL1 levels were detected by ELISA. 2. Anti-PGL1 levels were normal in patients with tuberculoid and borderline leprosy, in tuberculosis patients and in almost all of the healthy blood donors. Patients with untreated lepromatous leprosy had elevated anti-PGL1 levels while most patients under treatment (9/16) had normal anti-PGL1 levels. Only 3% of blood donors (10/324) had elevated anti-PGL1 levels, but when these individuals were submitted to clinical and bacilloscopic examination no signs of disease were found. To complete the clinical investigation, these 10 subjects were submitted to the Mitsuda reaction which was negative in 3 of them. All of these 10 subjects are being monitored, since they may be at risk to develop leprosy. 3. On the basis of the present data, it seems that ELISA is a potentially important assay for the detection and chemotherapy of subclinical leprosy, permitting the control of epidemic centers of the disease.</p>  a0100-879X