IMMUNOLOGICAL CHANGES OBSERVED IN INDETERMINATE AND LEPROMATOUS LEPROSY PATIENTS AND MITSUDA-NEGATIVE CONTACTS AFTER THE INOCULATION OF A MIXTURE OF MYCOBACTERIUM-LEPRAE AND BCG

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 36  (2) , 214-220
Abstract
Mitsuda-negative patients with indeterminate leprosy who were bacteriologically negative after prolonged treatment with sulfones and Mitsuda-negative contacts were studied after immunological stimulation with a mixture of autoclaved tissues from M. leprae-infected armadillos and living BCG. A radical change was observed in the specific immunological activity of the indeterminate group, all of whom initially had occasional bacilli in cutaneous nerves in biopsies taken from hypopigmented spots, and in the persistently Mitsuda-negative contacts. The 48 h and 30 day reactions to lepromin, the 48 h reaction to supernatant antigen [Ag] from lepromin, the test for bacillary clearance and in vitro lymphocyte transformation (LTT) to M. leprae from human and armadillo lesions all became positive. Of the lepromatous patients studied, only 1 became positive to all the above criteria. In the others, the 48 h reaction to supernatant Ag, the LTT to Ag from a human source and the clearance test remained negative, while the Fernandez and Mitsuda reactions became positive. The possible use of this stimulation procedure in the prevention and immunotherapy of leprosy is discussed.