title: Serum tumor necrosis factor levels and disease dissemination in leprosy and leishmaniasis.
abstract: It has been suggested that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) may serve as an important antigen-independent host defense mechanism against parasitic organisms. Sera from 66 patients with leishmaniasis and 68 patients with leprosy, all from Ethiopia, were tested for TNF alpha using an enzyme-linked immunoassay. Sera from patients with the multi-parasitic/bacillary type of disease (visceral or diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis and lepromatous leprosy), known to be associated with absent or low specific T cell response, contained significantly higher TNF alpha titers than those of patients with pauci-parasitic/bacillary disease (localized cutaneous leishmaniasis and nonlepromatous leprosy). High titers of TNF alpha in the absence of a functioning T cell response do not appear to confer resistance against Leishmania aethiopica and Mycobacterium leprae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pisa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gennene
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Söder
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ottenhoff
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kiessling
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000097:blood*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood; D007918:Leprosy / Q000097:blood*; D015439:Leprosy, Borderline / Q000097:blood; D015440:Leprosy, Lepromatous / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha