Lsr2 peptides of Mycobacterium leprae show hierarchical responses in lymphoproliferative assays, with selective recognition by patients with anergic lepromatous leprosy.

ABSTRACT: Lsr2 protein of Mycobacterium leprae was shown earlier to elicit B and T cell responses in leprosy patients (20, 28). Lymphoproliferation to M. leprae and Lsr2 antigens was observed in >70% of tuberculoid (T) patients and in 16 and 34% of lepromatous (L) patients, respectively. We focused on the M. leprae nonresponders in the lepromatous group using 22 synthetic Lsr2 peptides (end-to-end peptides A to F and overlapping peptides p1 to p16) in in vitro T cell responses. A total of 125 leprosy and 13 tuberculosis patients and 19 healthy controls from the area of endemicity (here, healthy controls, or HC) were investigated. The highest responses were observed (67 to 100%) in HC for all peptides except p1 to p3, and the lowest was observed in tuberculosis patients. Significant differences in ly

SUBMITTER: Chaduvula M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3264286 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature