02104nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653002600067653002700093653002400120653002200144653002000166653001300186653001100199653001200210653000900222653002500231653000900256100001200265700001300277700002000290700001400310700001500324700001400339700001200353700001600365245014500381300001000526490000700536050001400543520115900557022001401716       1990                            d  c1990 May10aAnimals10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntibodies, Monoclonal10aAntigens, Bacterial10aBlotting, Western10aCross Reactions10aEpitopes10aHumans10aleprosy10aMice10aMycobacterium leprae10aSkin1 aNaafs B1 aKolk A H1 aChin A Lien R A1 aFaber W R1 aVan Dijk G1 aKuijper S1 aStolz E1 aVan Joost T00aAnti-Mycobacterium leprae monoclonal antibodies cross-react with human skin: an alternative explanation for the immune responses in leprosy.  a685-80 v94  aNAAFS19903 a<p>A panel of 17 mouse monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) raised against Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) antigens was used to detect antigenic determinants in normal human skin. An indirect immunoperoxidase technique was used. Eight of the MoAb detected epidermal antigens similar to patterns well known for human sera. Five of these MoAb detected determinants in the dermis, too. These observations may indicate a certain degree of similarity between the antigenic determinants occurring in M. leprae and in the human host. We propose that such a similarity on the one hand may facilitate the survival of M. leprae in the human host when the antigens are not recognized as "non-self," a situation which seems to occur in lepromatous leprosy, when the patients' tissues are loaded with bacteria virtually without any immune response. On the other hand, M. leprae antigens which mimic host antigens may induce an auto-immune reaction against the host's own antigens, which could explain the immune reaction in tuberculoid leprosy and during a "reversal reaction" when M. leprae is not observed in the host tissues, but extensive granuloma formation occurs.</p>  a0022-202X