title: Effect of treatment on the cellular composition of cutaneous lesions in leprosy patients.
abstract: We report on the cellular composition of the cutaneous lesions of 38 leprosy patients prior to and after 12-18 months of chemotherapy. All of the patients with tuberculoid (TT) disease had OKT4/OKT8 ratios that exceeded 1.0. In the indeterminate patients, the ratio varied depending upon the immune status of the individual. A low ratio of OKT4/OKT8 cells (0.25) was found in the LL patients as previously reported. The low ratio of OKT4/OKT8 in the lesions of lepromatous patients did not undergo significant changes after treatment in spite of a marked reduction in the number of intracellular bacilli.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007918:Leprosy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification; D014382:Tuberculosis, Cutaneous / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007917:Leprostatic Agents