The cross-reactivity in vitro between Mycobacterium leprae and M. tuberculosis was studied in 41 Aboriginal Australians with leprosy, 78 uninfected contacts of leprosy patients and 38 control individuals. A vigorous T cell response to epitopes cross-reactive between these two mycobacteria was found for healthy uninfected contacts or non-contacts (controls) of leprosy patients, but not for the patients themselves. The data suggest that a vaccine based on antigen shared between M. leprae and other mycobacteria is unlikely to be useful in preventing leprosy. Further studies of responses in vitro to purified T cell-reactive antigens would be useful in designing newer vaccines for more widespread field studies of leprosy prevention.
BT - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2482558?dopt=Abstract DA - 1989 Jul-Aug DO - 10.1016/0035-9203(89)90294-0 IS - 4 J2 - Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. LA - eng N2 -The cross-reactivity in vitro between Mycobacterium leprae and M. tuberculosis was studied in 41 Aboriginal Australians with leprosy, 78 uninfected contacts of leprosy patients and 38 control individuals. A vigorous T cell response to epitopes cross-reactive between these two mycobacteria was found for healthy uninfected contacts or non-contacts (controls) of leprosy patients, but not for the patients themselves. The data suggest that a vaccine based on antigen shared between M. leprae and other mycobacteria is unlikely to be useful in preventing leprosy. Further studies of responses in vitro to purified T cell-reactive antigens would be useful in designing newer vaccines for more widespread field studies of leprosy prevention.
PY - 1989 SP - 557 EP - 9 T2 - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene TI - Cross-reactivity of Mycobacterium leprae and M. tuberculosis and the implications for assessment of in vitro T cell function in leprosy patients. VL - 83 SN - 0035-9203 ER -