Operational value of serological measurements in multibacillary leprosy patients: clinical and bacteriological correlates of antibody responses

Abstract

The antibody responses of 100 previously untreated multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients to one protein and two carbohydrate antigens were examined: 94% of the patients had Mycobacterium leprae-specific antibodies; 89% directed to the species-specific epitope on phenolic glycolipid (PGL-I), 89% against the specific epitope on the 35-kDa protein, and 94% against one or both of the two. By contrast, 67% of the patients had anti-lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antibodies. There were trends for the seropositivity rate and the antibody level to rise with the increasing extent of the disease and as patients moved to the polar lepromatous end of the spectrum. The bacillary load, as measured by the bacterial index, was moderately correlated with the IgM anti-PGL-I and the anti-35-kDa antibody levels and, to a lesser extent, with the IgG antibodies directed at the common mycobacterial carbohydrate LAM. The sensitivity of the IgM anti-PGL-I antibodies for detecting smear-positive MB disease was 91%; that for the anti-35-kDa antibodies was 92%.