02412nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260003100042653001500073653001000088653000900098653002400107653001500131653001100146653001400157653001800171653001100189653001100200653001200211653000900223653001600232653002500248653001600273100001600289700001600305700001700321700001300338700001800351700001300369245015000382300001200532490000700544520147300551022001402024       2012                            d  c2012 JulbSpringeraBerlin10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aAntigens, Bacterial10aBiomarkers10aBrazil10aCytokines10aFamily Health10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium leprae10aYoung Adult1 aSampaio L H1 aSousa A L M1 aBarcelos M C1 aReed S G1 aStefani M M A1 aDuthie M00aEvaluation of various cytokines elicited during antigen-specific recall as potential risk indicators for the differential development of leprosy.  a1443-510 v313 a<p>Leprosy is a dermato-neurological disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae infection that manifests across a wide range of clinical and immunological outcomes. Diagnosis is still currently based on clinical manifestations and simple tests are needed. This study investigated whether biomarkers induced by defined M. leprae proteins in 24-h whole blood assays (WBA) could discriminate active leprosy patients from at-risk contacts. Newly diagnosed, untreated paucibacillary (PB; tuberculoid leprosy/borderline tuberculoid [TT/BT]) and multibacillary (MB; borderline lepromatous/lepromatous leprosy [BL/LL]) leprosy patients, as well as healthy household contacts (HHC) of MB patients, were recruited in central western Brazil (Goiânia/Goiás). Cell-based responses to the ML0276, ML1623, ML0405, ML1632, 92f, and ML1011 antigens were measured by Luminex 14-plex assays detecting eotaxin, IFNγ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-15, IL-17A, IL-23, IL-31, IP-10, and TNFα. Our data reinforce that IFNγ is currently the best indicator of the antigen-specific cellular immune response of TT/BT leprosy and demonstrate that the same antigens promote the secretion of IL-4 in blood from BL/LL leprosy patients. While none of the biomarkers tested could discriminate leprosy patients from HHC, our data indicate that, although most HHC antigen-specific responses are qualitatively similar to TT/BT patients, some HHC can respond similarly to BL/LL patients.</p>  a1435-4373