02339nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653000900065653002300074653001100097653001100108653002000119653001300139653002500152653002500177653000900202653001600211653002400227100001300251700001200264700001400276700001500290700001400305245008800319300001100407490000700418520157400425022001401999       1989                            d  c1989 Jul10aAdult10aAged10aAntibody Formation10aFemale10aHumans10aImmunoglobulins10aLepromin10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aLeprosy, Tuberculoid10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium bovis1 aWang C R1 aLiu M F1 aHsieh R P1 aChuang C Y1 aCheng C S00aEvaluation of humoral immunity on leprosy patients in Taiwan: a preliminary report.  a669-720 v883 a<p>Twenty-four tuberculoid (T)-type and 31 lepromatous (L)-type leprosy patients from Taiwan Provincial Lo-Sheng Leprosarium were enrolled in this study. Twenty-six age- and sex- matched normal subjects were also studied as a control group. The evaluation of their general and specific humoral immunity included B-cell subpopulations, 3 major classes of immunoglobulin (G, A and M) and antibodies in the IgG class against lepromin suspension and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) sonicate. T-type patients showed a larger B-cell percentage than L-type patients (p less than 0.01). In general, patients with leprosy, both T and L types, had higher serum immunoglobulin levels than the control group. T-type patients showed greater antibody levels than the control group (p less than 0.05 for anti-lepromin and p less than 0.0001 for anti-BCG). L-type patients demonstrated a higher anti-BCG IgG level than the control group (p less than 0.0001). The level of anti-BCG IgG was more frequently above the cutoff level than that of anti-lepromin IgG in leprosy patients (p less than 0.01 for T, p less than 0.005 for L). In conclusion, humoral immunity is not impaired in leprosy patients. Discrepancies for T- and L-type patients among B-cell subpopulation, serum immunoglobulin levels and specific antibody levels reflect different aspects of cell-mediated immunity impairment. Though leprosy patients had elevated anti-BCG IgG levels, it is impossible to differentiate L- and T-type patients; specific antigens are needed for serodiagnosis of leprosy patients in Taiwan.</p>  a0371-7682