02217nas a2200361   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653000900080653002700089653002000116653002000136653001100156653001100167653001200178653002600190653000900216653001600225653002500241653001800266653001500284653001700299100001300316700001400329700001400343700001500357245010700372300001100479490000700490520134400497022001401841       1983                            d  c1983 Apr10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aAntibodies, Monoclonal10aCell Separation10aCells, Cultured10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aLymphocyte Activation10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium leprae10aT-Lymphocytes10aTuberculin10aTuberculosis1 aBach M A1 aWallach D1 aFlageul B1 aCottenot F00aIn vitro proliferative response to M. leprae and PPD of isolated T cell subsets from leprosy patients.  a107-140 v523 a<p>In vitro proliferative response to Mycobacterium leprae and PPD to T cell subsets, isolated by selective depletion procedure from peripheral blood using OKT4 or OKT8 monoclonal antibodies plus complement, was investigated in leprosy patients. Whole peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) developed a strong proliferative response to both M. leprae and PPD in most tuberculoid patients. This proliferation was confined to T cells, and concerned predominantly OKT4+ cells. Both antigens, however, induced a smaller, but significant proliferation oF OKT8+ cells. In lepromatous patients, proliferative response of whole PBMC incubated with M. leprae was in most cases unsignificant, at variance with PPD-induced proliferation, which was not significantly lower than that of PBMC from tuberculoid patients. In a majority of M. leprae non-responders, neither OKT4+ nor OKT8+ enriched PBMC developed a proliferative response to M. leprae. Unexpectedly in four M. leprae unreactive patients, control treatment of PBMC with complement alone restored a strong proliferative response to M. leprae. Taken together, these results suggest that in vitro unresponsiveness to M. leprae results at least in some patients, from an active suppressor mechanism but that the effector phase of such suppression does not directly involve OKT8+ T cells.</p>  a0009-9104