01708nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002600055653002400081653001200105653003000117653001600147653001100163653001200174653002500186100001500211700001500226700001500241700001500256700001600271700001100287245009200298856004100390300001100431490000700442520094300449022001401392       1989                            d  c1989 Dec10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntigens, Bacterial10aDapsone10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aGlycolipids10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae1 aChanteau S1 aCartel J L1 aCelerier P1 aPlichart R1 aDesforges S1 aRoux J00aPGL-I antigen and antibody detection in leprosy patients: evolution under chemotherapy.  uhttp://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v57n4a01.pdf  a735-430 v573 a<p>Multibacillary (MB) and paucibacillary (PB) leprosy patients were tested for circulating phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) antigen and antibodies before treatment. In the 27 MB patients tested, 27 (100%) were antigen positive with levels ranging from 50 to 5000 ng/ml, and 26 (96%) were antibody positive with titers ranging from 1000 to 64,000. Although the antigen and antibody levels were much higher in MB than in PB patients, we could not demonstrate a correlation between the number of acid-fast bacilli/mg of skin biopsy and these two parameters in 14 MB patients. After starting daily multidrug therapy, 10 MB patients were monitored monthly. As much as 88.75% +/- 10.8% of the PGL-I antigen was cleared from the bloodstream after 1 month while the anti-PGL-I antibody remained stable. This rapid decrease in the PGL-I antigen level strongly suggests the usefulness of this test for monitoring MB patients under chemotherapy.</p>
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