The Study of the Applicablility of the results of PGL-I Antibody IgM ELISA test for the Leprosy Control Program / 나학회지

ABSTRACT

Though the early detection of leprosy is very important, it has been difficult to determine the M. leprae transmission in the community partly due to a lack of easy specific tools to measure it. A development of a seroepidemiological tool based on the phenolic glycolipid I(PGL-I), an M. leprae-specific antigen, made it possible to detect the M. leprae infection or exposure to the organism. In Korea, 11 studies, used it, were reported in the Korean Leprosy Bulletin. For the reduction of bias, we performed the integrated study of past 11 studies. In our study, we tried to find the useful values of the results of PGL-I Antibody IgM ELISA test for the control of leprosy and to know the further study for more valuable results.