02406nas a2200397   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653000900080653002500089653002800114653003800142653001100180653001100191653001000202653001600212653001200228653000900240653001600249653002500265653003000290100001700320700001300337700001500350700001400365700001200379700001100391245006500402856005100467300001000518490000700528050003200535520142700567022001401994       2004                            d  c2004 Sep10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aCase-Control Studies10aCross-Sectional Studies10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aFemale10aHumans10aIndia10aLactoferrin10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium leprae10aSeverity of Illness Index1 aMuruganand D1 aDaniel E1 aEbenezer G1 aRabboni S1 aSegar P1 aJob CK00aMycobacterium leprae infection and serum lactoferrin levels.  uhttps://leprosyreview.org/article/75/3/28-2288  a282-80 v75  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>Serum lactoferrin level, using competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, was estimated in 298 leprosy patients admitted into the hospital and attending the out-patient department of the Schieffelin Leprosy Research and Training Center. Serum from an equal number of non-leprosy individuals served as control. Mean (SD) of serum lactoferrin in non-leprosy individuals was 0.277 (0-092) microg/ml while in leprosy patients it was 0.494 (0.394) microg/ml, the difference being significant (P=0.0001). Serum lactoferrin levels were not significantly associated with type 2 reactions (P=0.613). Serum lactoferrin was significantly associated with age (P = 0.006), duration of the disease (P=0.0001), DDS monotherapy (P =0.007), deformity (P= 0.005), average bacterial index (BI) (P=0.01) and smear positivity (P=0.0001), orbicularis oculi weakness (P= 0.001), lagophthalmos (P = 0.002), corneal opacity (P = 0.001) and cataract (P=0.004) in simple regression analysis. All these variables, with the exception of smear positivity (P=0.019), lost their significance (P>0.05) when analysed using multiple regression. Serum lactoferrin showed poor association with type 1 (P = 0.286) and type II reactions (P = 0.613) and iridocyclitis (P = 0.207). We conclude that serum lactoferrin is strongly and inversely associated with increasing BI but does not show significant association with type 2 reactions.</p>  a0305-7518