Serological monitoring of previously treated lepromatous patients during a course of multiple immunotherapy treatments with heat-killed Mycobacterium leprae and BCG.
Two-hundred and seventy lepromatous patients who had completed treatment received multiple treatments with heat-killed M. leprae and BCG and were monitored for changes in humoral responses to M. leprae-specific antigens. These patients were divided into four treatment groups: placebo (n = 69); BCG (n = 68); M. leprae only (n = 71); and BCG + M. leprae (n = 62). They were monitored for 15 months, receiving five inoculations for each treatment regimen. Two ELISA systems, one measuring antibodies to M. leprae-specific epitopes of the phenolic glycolipid I (NDO-ELISA) and the other of 36-kD protein antigens (INH-ELISA) were used to measure serological changes during this period of immunotherapy. We found no significant increase in serological reactivity with the different treatments, as measured by NDO-ELISA. INH-ELISA similarly showed no significant changes, with the exception of increased values in a small group 13% (36/270) which became skin test-positive during the course of the study. The NDO-ELISA results indicate that use of heat-killed M. leprae or BCG + heat-killed M. leprae did not stimulate the humoral response to the semi-synthetic PG-I antigens of M. leprae. Thus, the NDO-ELISA may be useful in monitoring the outcome of vaccine trials in which killed M. leprae or M. leprae fractions are used, since seroconversion may indicate disease, rather than a response to the vaccine material.
Douglas
J T
JT
Department of Microbiology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822.
Hirsch
D S
DS
Fajardo
T T
TT
Guido
L S
LS
Klatser
P R
PR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016233:Immunotherapy, Active; D015440:Leprosy, Lepromatous / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology*; D012882:Skin Tests; D014611:Vaccination
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001500:BCG Vaccine; C065517:protein antigen b, Mycobacterium