Detection of antibodies against Mycobacterium leprae culture filtrate protein-10 in leprosy patients.
The prevalence of IgG antibodies against Mycobacterium leprae recombinant culture filtrate protein-10 (rCFP-10) was investigated in serum samples from 56 leprosy patients, 15 tuberculosis (TB) patients, 14 other skin-diseased patients and 20 healthy subjects. On classifying the patients into bacterial index (BI)-positive and BI-negative groups, the assay showed 83.3 % (15/18) sensitivity for detection of BI-positive leprosy patients. On the other hand, the sensitivity for detection of BI-negative patients was 18.4 % (7/38). None of the 15 TB patients and 14 other skin-diseased patients was positive; however, only one out of 20 healthy individuals was positive, indicating that antibody response to culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP-10) was highly specific (98.0 %; 48/49). Statistically, the performance of the CFP-10-based assay was found to be comparable (P>0.05) with that of an anti-phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) antibody-detecting assay. Thus, M. leprae CFP-10 is potentially a specific antigen for measuring antibody response in BI-positive leprosy patients. Being a secreted antigen, CFP-10 may act as a marker for the viability of M. leprae inside the host, and hence its serological potential is worth exploring for application in monitoring the response of patients with BI-positive leprosy (a highly infectious form) during the course of chemotherapy. When comparing the bacteriological and serological results, an agreement of 82.1 % showed that seropositivity to M. leprae CFP-10 corresponded well with bacteriological criteria. Hence, CFP-10 seems to be a suitable antigen for classification of leprosy patients into BI-positive and BI-negative groups.
Parkash
Om
O
National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and other Mycobacterial Diseases, TajGanj, Agra-1, India.
Kumar
Ajay
A
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, India.
Nigam
Astha
A
Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Dr B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra, India.
Girdhar
Bhawneshwar K
BK
National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and other Mycobacterial Diseases, TajGanj, Agra-1, India.
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005374:Filtration; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007918:Leprosy / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins