Seropositivity to anti-phenolic glycolipid-I in leprosy cases, contacts and no known contacts of leprosy in an endemic and a non-endemic area in northeast Brazil.

Abstract

The seroprevalence rates of IgM anti-phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) antibodies in four study groups with differing exposure to Mycobacterium leprae in Ceará, Brazil were investigated between March 2005 and August 2006. The first three groups in a high prevalence area included 144 cases of leprosy, their 380 contacts and 317 participants with no known leprosy contact. The fourth group in a low prevalence area consisted of 87 participants with no known leprosy contact living in an area in which no cases of leprosy had been reported in the previous 6 months. Seropositivity and levels of IgM antibodies to PGL-I were investigated using ELISA. The seropositivity levels of anti-PGL-I among the different clinical forms of leprosy cases were 61% for lepromatous, 25% for tuberculoid and 27% indeterminate. The levels of anti-PGL-I antibodies in the endemic area differentiated leprosy cases from non-cases. However, the seropositivity was similar among contact cases (15.8%) and no known leprosy contact cases from high (15.1%) and low (13.8%) prevalence areas. The seropositivity of both contacts and no known contacts was much higher than previously reported among no known contacts in other endemic areas. The study indicates that anti-PGL-I antibodies are not useful as immunological markers of household leprosy contacts and no known leprosy contacts in endemic areas.

• Authors: Cristiane C Frota, Max V C Freitas, Norma T Foss, Luana N C Lima, Laura C Rodrigues, Maurício L Barreto, Ligia R S Kerr
• Journal: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg) Vol. 104 Issue 7 Pg. 490-5 (Jul 2010) ISSN: 1878-3503 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20447668 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright 2010 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Bacterial
• Antigens, Bacterial
• Biomarkers
• Glycolipids
• Immunoglobulin M
• phenolic glycolipid I, Mycobacterium leprae

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Antibodies, Bacterial (blood, immunology)
• Antigens, Bacterial (immunology)
• Biomarkers (blood)
• Brazil (epidemiology)
• Contact Tracing
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• Female
• Glycolipids (immunology)
• Humans
• Immunoglobulin M (blood, immunology)
• Leprosy (blood, epidemiology, immunology)
• Leprosy, Lepromatous (blood, epidemiology, immunology)
• Leprosy, Tuberculoid (blood, epidemiology, immunology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Seroepidemiologic Studies
• Young Adult