IMMUNE RESPONSIVENESS TO MYCOBACTERIUM LEPRAE OF HEALTHY HUMANS. APPLICATION OF THE LEUCOCYTE MIGRATION INHIBITION TEST

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Abstract
Immune responsiveness to Mycobacterium leprae was studied, by the method of leucocyte migration inhibition, in ninety healthy adults allocated into four groups according to previous contact with leprosy patients. Groups working or living in close relationship with leprosy patients responded significantly more strongly to M. leprae than a group without such contact. With a selected concentration of M. leprae 71.2 per cent of medical attendants dealing with leprosy patients, 22.2 per cent of administrative staff of a leprosy hospital, and 50 per cent of household contacts of leprosy patients showed migration indices M. leprae, the above figures appear to represent individuals immunologically stimulated with M. leprae itself. The study therefore, showed that the method of leucocyte migration inhibition may be used as an assay for specific detection and enumeration of immune responses mounted by M. leprae. The results lend strong support to the view that leprosy bacilli are frequently transmitted from patients to contacts. The introduction of M. leprae into the human body is, however, rarely accompanied by development of clinical signs of leprosy.