02661nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260004900042653001200091653001500103653002300118653001100141653002100152653001200173653002500185653003200210100001200242700001200254700002300266700001400289700001300303700001400316245013700330856005100467300001100518490000700529520180900536022001402345       2011                            d  c2011 DecbLEPRA Health in ActionaColchester10aAnimals10aArmadillos10aBacterial Proteins10aHumans10aInterferon-gamma10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aTumor Necrosis Factor-alpha1 aPena MT1 aGeluk A1 aPloeg-van Schip JJ1 aFranken K1 aSharma R1 aTruman RW00aCytokine responses to Mycobacterium leprae unique proteins differentiate between Mycobacterium leprae infected and naive armadillos.  uhttps://leprosyreview.org/article/82/4/42-2431  a422-310 v823 a<p>New diagnostic tools for early detection of leprosy are necessary to help reduce its transmission and severity. M. leprae unique proteins have been used to assess differences in human T-cell responses in leprosy patients, household contacts and endemic controls. In this study, we examined the response of M. leprae-infected armadillos to a variety of M. leprae recombinant antigen candidates currently being examined for diagnostic efficacy in humans. Among recently M. leprae infected armadillos, IFN-gamma expression was enhanced after stimulation of PBMC with all M. leprae recombinant proteins except for ML2283 (mean: 2.65 Relative Quantification (RQ)). The group mean stimulation index for M. leprae proteins ML0009, ML1601, ML2478 and ML2531 averaged 35.2 RQ and was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that measured among the non-infected, naive group (mean 6.2 RQ). Although ML0840 tended to enhance IFN-gamma levels, the mean IFN-gamma transcript levels of the currently experimentally inoculated group (20.1 RQ) was not significantly different statistically (P = 0.10) from the mean of the naive group (7.5 RQ). Also no statistically significant differences were observed in IFN-gamma transcript levels between the resistant and currently experimentally inoculated group (P > 0.05) or between the resistant and the naive group (P > 0.05) after stimulation of PBMCs with all M. leprae recombinant proteins. Only low levels of TNF-alpha were observed across all groups after in vitro stimulation with all the antigens examined. These data suggest that armadillos can be used effectively to help identify M. leprae specific proteins that may be applied for monitoring T-cell responses in M. leprae infected hosts as their disease progresses as well as for the early diagnosis of leprosy.</p>  a0305-7518