@article{74,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Antibodies, Bacterial, Antigens, Bacterial, Biomarkers, Brazil, Contact Tracing, Cross-Sectional Studies, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Glycolipids, Humans, Immunoglobulin M, leprosy, Leprosy, lepromatous, Leprosy, Tuberculoid, Male, Middle Aged, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Young Adult},
  author = {Frota C and Freitas MV C and Foss N and Lima L and Rodrigues L and Barreto M and Kerr LR S},
  title = {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 = {<p>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.</p>},
  year = {2010},
  journal = {Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene},
  volume = {104},
  pages = {490-5},
  month = {2010 Jul},
  issn = {1878-3503},
  doi = {10.1016/j.trstmh.2010.03.006},
  language = {eng},
}