More than 150 leprosy patients treated with multidrug therapy (MDT) plus immunotherapy (IMT) with a mixture of heat-killed Mycobacterium leprae plus live BCG were studied in relation to humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Many previously had received prolonged sulfone monotherapy. Patients received 2 to 10 doses of IMT in a period of 1 to 3 years, depending upon their clinical form of leprosy. The patients were followed up for 5 to 10 years with repeated determinations of antibody levels to phenolic glycolipid-I; lymphoproliferative (LTT) responses to soluble extract of M. leprae, to whole bacilli and to BCG, skin-test responses and bacterial indexes (BIs). After MDT plus IMT there was a statistically significant decrease of antibody levels in the multibacillary (MB) group. The BI decreased proportionally to the ELISA results. LTT increased to M. leprae antigens, especially to soluble extract, in a high percentage of these patients (34% of LL patients positive). Lepromin positivity in MB patients increased from 5% initially positive to 75% at the cut-off during this follow up. These results show substantial early and persistent cell-mediated reactivity to M. leprae in many MB patients treated with MDT-IMT, confirming and expanding previously published data.
BT - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association C1 -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7868953?dopt=Abstract
DA - 1994 Dec IS - 4 J2 - Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis. LA - eng N2 -More than 150 leprosy patients treated with multidrug therapy (MDT) plus immunotherapy (IMT) with a mixture of heat-killed Mycobacterium leprae plus live BCG were studied in relation to humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Many previously had received prolonged sulfone monotherapy. Patients received 2 to 10 doses of IMT in a period of 1 to 3 years, depending upon their clinical form of leprosy. The patients were followed up for 5 to 10 years with repeated determinations of antibody levels to phenolic glycolipid-I; lymphoproliferative (LTT) responses to soluble extract of M. leprae, to whole bacilli and to BCG, skin-test responses and bacterial indexes (BIs). After MDT plus IMT there was a statistically significant decrease of antibody levels in the multibacillary (MB) group. The BI decreased proportionally to the ELISA results. LTT increased to M. leprae antigens, especially to soluble extract, in a high percentage of these patients (34% of LL patients positive). Lepromin positivity in MB patients increased from 5% initially positive to 75% at the cut-off during this follow up. These results show substantial early and persistent cell-mediated reactivity to M. leprae in many MB patients treated with MDT-IMT, confirming and expanding previously published data.
PY - 1994 SP - 552 EP - 8 T2 - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association TI - A longitudinal study of immunologic reactivity in leprosy patients treated with immunotherapy. UR - http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v62n4a08.pdf VL - 62 SN - 0148-916X ER -