ABSTRACT
Three antibody assays (anti-PGL-1, anti-35 kDa and anti-LAM) were used to determine the levels of antibodies in the sera of untreated leprosy patients. All the three assays showed higher levels of antibodies in BL/LL patients as compared to I and TT/BT patients, as well as healthy controls. BL/LL patients showed positivity of 100%, 84.2% and 78.9% by anti-PGL-1, anti-35 kDa and anti-LAM assays respectively. All the three assays were negative for leprosy in healthy controls. Anti-PGL-1 assay was positive in 20% of TT/BT patients and 17.9% of I patients. Anti-35 kDa assay was negative in all the TT/BT patients and positive in 7.14% of I patients. Anti-LAM assay was positive in 13.3% of TT/BT patients and in 10.7% of I patients. Hence, while these assays are valuable in diagnosing BL/LL patients, their usefulness in diagnosing I, BT or TT leprosy is limited.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Antigens, Bacterial/immunology , Glycolipids/immunology , Leprosy/diagnosis , Lipopolysaccharides/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Leprosy/blood , Leprosy/classification , Leprosy/immunology , Male , Middle Aged , Mycobacterium leprae/immunology , Serologic TestsABSTRACT
Three antibody assays (anti-PGL-1, anti-35 kDa and anti-LAM) were used to determine the levels of antibodies in the sera of untreated leprosy patients. All the three assays showed higher levels of antibodies in BL/LL patients as compared to I and TT/BT patients, as well as healthy controls. BL/LL patients showed positivity of 100 per cent, 84.2 per cent and 78.9 per cent by anti-PGL-1, anti-35 kDa and anti-LAM assays respectively. All the three assays were negative for leprosy in healthy controls. Anti-PGL-1 assay was positive in 20 per cent of TT/BT patients and 17.9 per cent of I patients. Anti-35 kDa assay was negative in all the TT/BT patients and positive in 7.14 per cent of I patients. Anti-LAM assay was positive in 13.3 per cent of TT/BT patients and in 10.7 per cent of I patients. Hence, while these assays are valuable in diagnosing BL/LL patients, their usefulness in diagnosing I, BT or TT leprosy is limited.
Subject(s)
Male , Female , Humans , Adult , Middle Aged , Adolescent , Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Antigens, Bacterial/immunology , Glycolipids/immunology , Leprosy/classification , Leprosy/diagnosis , Leprosy/immunology , Leprosy/blood , Lipopolysaccharides/immunology , Mycobacterium leprae/immunology , Serologic TestsABSTRACT
The ability of the fluorescein diacetate and ethidium bromide fluorescent staining method to assess the percentage of viable bacterial cells in suspension was compared with the plate counting method. Mycobacterium smegmatis and Escherichia coli bacterial cell suspensions were incubated at 60 degrees C. At different time intervals samples were taken and the percentage of viable cells in each sample was assessed by the fluorescent staining method and compared with the plate counting method. The fluorescent staining method showed a positive correlation with the plate counting method. However, the viable counts by the plate counting method were lower than the staining method when incubated at 60 degrees C, indicating a lag period in the decay of enzymes after bacterial death. Hence, the fluorescent staining technique can be used to assess the trend of bacterial death rather than to assess to exact number of viable bacilli.
