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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, May 2001, p. 604-611, Vol. 8, No. 3
Immunology Unit, Department of Infectious and
Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London
WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom1; Unidad de
Investigacion Medica en Dermatologia y Micologia "Dr Ernesto
Macotela," Department of Dermatology and Medical Mycology, Hospital
de Especialidades "Dr Bernardo Sepulveda," Centro Medico Nacional
Siglo XXI,2 and Centro Dermatologico Dr
Ladislao de la Pascua,4 Mexico City DF, and
Hospital Amigo del Nino y la Mujer, Instituto Mexicano del
Seguro Social, Celaya GTO,5 Mexico;
and Department of Immunohematology and Blood Bank, Leiden
University Hospital Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The
Netherlands3
Received 14 August 2000/Returned for modification 16 November
2000/Accepted 15 February 2001
The ability of the 45-kDa serine-rich Mycobacterium
leprae antigen to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cell
(PBMC) proliferation and gamma interferon (IFN-
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.3.604-611.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Presence of Human T-Cell Responses to the Mycobacterium
leprae 45-Kilodalton Antigen Reflects Infection with or
Exposure to M. leprae
) production was
measured in leprosy patients, household contacts, and healthy controls
from areas of endemicity in Mexico. Almost all the tuberculoid leprosy
patients gave strong PBMC proliferation responses to the M.
leprae 45-kDa antigen (92.8%; n = 14).
Responses were lower in lepromatous leprosy patients (60.6%;
n = 34), but some responses to the 45-kDa antigen were detected in patients unresponsive to M. leprae
sonicate. The proportion of positive responses to the M.
leprae 45-kDa antigen was much higher in leprosy contacts
(88%; n = 17) than in controls from areas of
endemicity (10%; n = 20). None of 15 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis gave a positive proliferation response to the
45-kDa antigen. The 45-kDa antigen induced IFN- secretion similar to
that induced by the native Mycobacterium tuberculosis 30/31-kDa antigen in tuberculoid leprosy patients and higher
responses than those induced by the other recombinant antigens
(M. leprae 10- and 65-kDa antigens, thioredoxin, and
thioredoxin reductase); in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis
it induced lower IFN- secretion than the other recombinant antigens.
These results suggest that the M. leprae 45-kDa antigen
is a potent T-cell antigen which is M. leprae specific
in these Mexican donors. This antigen may therefore have diagnostic
potential as a new skin test reagent or as an antigen in a simple
whole-blood cytokine test.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Immunology Unit,
Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel St., London WC1E 7HT, United
Kingdom. Phone: 44 20 7927 2466. Fax: 44 20 7637 4314. E-mail:
Hazel.Dockrell{at}lshtm.ac.uk.
Present address: University College London Hospitals, Department of
Dermatology, London W1N 8AA, United Kingdom.
Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, May 2001, p. 604-611, Vol. 8, No. 3
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.3.604-611.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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