01953nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002600055653002400081653003800105653001600143653001100159653002100170653002800191653001200219653001400231653002500245100001500270700001500285700001700300700001100317700001700328700001500345700001300360700001400373245017400387300001100561490000700572050001700579520099300596022001401589       1989                            d  c1989 Nov10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aAntigens, Bacterial10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aGlycolipids10aHumans10aImmunoglobulin A10aImmunoglobulin Isotypes10aleprosy10aLiposomes10aMycobacterium leprae1 aSchwerer B1 aChujor C S1 aBernheimer H1 aRadl J1 aHaaijman J J1 aMeeker H C1 aSersen G1 aLevis W R00aIgA antibodies against phenolic glycolipid I from Mycobacterium leprae in serum of leprosy patients and contacts: subclass distribution and relation to disease activity.  a202-110 v53  aSCHWERER19893 a<p>The anti-PGL-I IgA response against phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I) a specific surface antigen of Mycobacterium leprae, was demonstrated to be essentially of the IgA1 subclass in sera from leprosy patients and contacts. Anti-PGL-I IgA1 mean levels were found to increase significantly from the tuberculoid toward the lepromatous pole of the leprosy disease spectrum, thus resembling the predominating anti-PGL-I IgM response. Furthermore, anti-PGL-I IgA1 values were shown to increase significantly with increasing bacillary load, measured as bacillary index (BI) from skin biopsies. However, a number of BI negative leprosy patients recorded elevated anti-PGL-I IgA1 levels possibly reflecting a persistence of disease activity. Three of 28 household or family contacts of leprosy patients were detected seropositive for anti-PGL-I IgA1. Thus, our results suggest that anti-PGL-I IgA1 may be considered as an additional parameter for the early detection of infection with M. leprae.</p>  a0090-1229