Immune Responses to Recombinant Proteins of Mycobacterium leprae

Identification of antigenic determinants of the polar immune response in leprosy may illuminate both protection and pathogenesis. Thirty subjects were studied (22 with polar disease and 8 healthy controls who were heavily exposed but disease-free) by assaying the proliferative, interferon (IFN)-γ, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 1999-04, Vol.179 (4), p.1034-1037
Main Authors: Wilkinson, K. A., Katoch, K., Sengupta, U., Singh, M., Sarin, K. K., Ivanyi, J., Wilkinson, R. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antibodies
Antibodies, Bacterial - blood
Antibody formation
Antigens
Bacterial diseases
Bacterial Proteins - immunology
Biological and medical sciences
Concise Communications
Experimental bacterial diseases and models
Female
Humans
Infectious diseases
Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis
Leprosy
Lymphocyte Activation
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Molecular Weight
Mycobacterium leprae
Mycobacterium leprae - immunology
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Phenotypes
Recombinant antigens
Recombinant Proteins - immunology
T lymphocytes
Tuberculosis
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Summary:Identification of antigenic determinants of the polar immune response in leprosy may illuminate both protection and pathogenesis. Thirty subjects were studied (22 with polar disease and 8 healthy controls who were heavily exposed but disease-free) by assaying the proliferative, interferon (IFN)-γ, and antibody responses to recombinant antigens of Mycobacterium leprae (10, 28, 36, and 65 kDa). The 10-kDa antigen elicited IFN-γ production from all tuberculoid (TT) and borderline tuberculoid (BT) patients but little from controls, lepromatous (LL), or borderline lepromatous (BL) patients (P < .05) Production of 65-kDa-specific IFN-γ was higher in TT/BT than in controls or LL/BL patients (P < .006). All subjects produced 65-kDa-specific antibody, but it was higher in LL/BL patients than in healthy controls, whose responses were higher than in TT/BT subjects (P = .035). The 36-kDa antibody responses were selectively increased in LL/BL subjects (P < .02). The intermediate phenotype of the controls suggests that M. leprae-specific production of IFN-γ may contribute to pathology and to protection in leprosy.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1086/314669