title: Epidemiological studies in children of a low-endemic region, a high-endemic region, and dwellers of a leprosy colony: evaluation of anti-ND-BSA antibodies and lepromin response.
abstract: Children residing in a low-endemic region (LER), a high-endemic region (HER), and a leprosy colony contact population (CP) were evaluated for lepromin response as well as reactivity to the Mycobacterium leprae-specific synthetic antigen, ND-BSA. The mean reactivity to ND-BSA in the LER group (OD 0.03 +/- 0.03, N = 71) was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than that in the contact population (OD 0.14 +/- 0.09, N = 140) as well as the population residing in the HER (OD 0.09 +/- 0.08, N = 1340). ELISA-positive results were the highest (21.4%) with the CP group and lowest (0.0%) in the LER group, suggesting that it was a measure of the extent of exposure of M. leprae. In the contact population, females showed a preponderance for ELISA positivity over males (p < 0.005), a finding not observed with the HER population. The Mitsuda responses showed a Gaussian-type distribution in all of the three populations examined with the mean response being highest in the LER (6.0 mm +/- 2.9) and lowest in the HER (4.5 mm +/- 2.0) groups. The percent positivity for the Mitsuda reaction was found to be highest in the LER (93.0%) and lowest in the HER (88.3%) groups. The Mitsuda response thus appears to be independent of M. leprae exposure, and its interpretation in a given population needs consideration of several factors, such as nutritional, environmental, etc.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Radiation Medicine Centre, Tata Memorial Centre, Parel, Bombay, India.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Vartak
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Dandekar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganapati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D004187:Disaccharides / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007914:Leper Colonies; D007916:Lepromin / Q000276:immunology*; D007918:Leprosy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004187:Disaccharides; D006017:Glycolipids; C051559:O-(3,6-di-O-methylglucopyranosyl)-(1-4)-O-(2,3-di-O-methylrhamnopyranosyl)-(1-9)-oxynonanoyl-bovine serum albumin; D007916:Lepromin; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine