Evaluation of related with age of IFN-gamma levels of treated leprosy patients and their healthy relatives compared with a control group.

OBJECTIVE: This study was to search how change with age of IFN-gamma (IFN-gamma) levels of leprosy patients who had received or still undergoing treatment, their healthy close relatives and healthy people.

METHOD: From a total of 39 patients, 28 had received leprosy treatment and recovered with some defects [17 Lepromatous Leprosy(LL), 7 Borderline Lepromatous (BL), 3 Borderlien Tuberculoid (BT), 1 Tuberculoid form (TT)] and 11 (9 LL, 2 BL) were undergoing therapy in a hospital at that moment. Close relatives of the patients included 39 people living with treated patients in the same house and the control group consisted of 39 healthy people. Human IFN-gamma kits were used as a solid phase sandwich ELISA method.

RESULTS: The IFN-gamma values of treated leprosy patients, therapy receiving patients, relatives group's and control group's were detected as 11-20 pg/mL, 11-18 pg/mL, 12-145 pg/mL and 12-65 pg/mL respectively.

CONCLUSION: According to the statistical evaluation of these three groups, IFN-gamma levels of patients were detected lower than other two groups. According to the age, if IFN-gamma levels were compared, it was detected that significant relationship between relatives groups and interferon gamma levels.