Urinary phenolic glycolipid 1 in the diagnosis and management of leprosy.
A simplified assay to measure the phenolic glycolipid 1 (PGL-1) of Mycobacterium leprae in the urine was applied to the diagnosis of leprosy and the monitoring of antileprosy chemotherapy. One hundred seventy-nine previously untreated patients and 25 normal controls were tested. The specificity of the assay was 100%. There were no false-positive results. The sensitivity of the assay varied with the type of leprosy from 92% for lepromatous leprosy to 56% for borderline lepromatous and 18% for borderline tuberculoid patients. After the onset of chemotherapy in lepromatous leprosy patients, there was often a transient increase of urinary PGL-1, followed by a steady decline. Within 3 months of multiple drug therapy, urinary PGL-1 levels were reduced by 90%-99% and were often undetectable. This assay appears to have considerable potential for monitoring chemotherapy and detecting treatment failure and relapse in patients with Hansen's disease.
Mahon
A C
AC
Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Nurlign
A
A
Kebede
B
B
Becx-Bleumink
M
M
Lefford
M J
MJ
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000652:urine*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D006017:Glycolipids; C045169:phenolic glycolipid I, Mycobacterium leprae