Serial measurement of the circulating levels of tumour necrosis factor and its soluble receptors 1 and 2 for monitoring leprosy patients during multidrug treatment.

Leprosy is an infectious and contagious spectral disease accompanied by a series of immunological events triggered by the host response to the aetiologic agent, Mycobacterium leprae . The induction and maintenance of the immune/inflammatory response in leprosy are linked to multiple cell interactions and soluble factors, primarily through the action of cytokines. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the serum levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and its soluble receptors (sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2) in leprosy patients at different stages of multidrug treatment (MDT) in comparison with non-infected individuals and to determine their role as putative biomarkers of the severity of leprosy or the treatment response.

Study of the profile of the neurotrophin BDNF in new leprosy cases before, during and after multidrug therapy.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin involved in the survival of neurons and growth and differentiation of dendrites and axons. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate plasma levels of BDNF of leprosy patients at different stages of multidrug therapy (MDT) in comparison with non-infected individuals. Plasma levels of BDNF were measured by ELISA in 30 healthy controls and 37 leprosy patients at diagnosis, during and after MDT.

Plasma levels of chemokines during leprosy specific treatment.

Leprosy, whose etiologic agent is Mycobacterium leprae, is an illness of ample clinical and immunopathological spectrum. Although chemokines seem to be involved in the immunopathogenesis of leprosis, few studies have been carried out to unveil the potential of chemokines as biological markers of the disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of measuring CCL2, CCL3, CCL11 and CCL24 in plasma of patients with leprosy (LE) at different stages of multi-drug therapy (MDT).

Evaluation of the expression of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1beta) and interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) in leprosy patients.

Leprosy is an infectious and contagious spectral disease accompanied by a series of immunological events triggered by the host's response to the etiologic agent, Mycobacterium leprae. Evidence suggests that the induction and maintenance of the immune/inflammatory response in leprosy are linked to multiple cell interactions and soluble factors, mainly through the action of cytokines. The ELISA test was used to measure the levels of IL-1beta and IL-1Ra in 37 new leprosy patients followed-up during treatment and 30 healthy controls.

The result patterns of ML Flow and ELISA (PGL-I) serologic tests in leprosy-endemic and non-endemic areas.

ML Flow and anti-PGL-I ELISA are serological tests that detect IgM antibodies against the phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I), specific to Mycobacterium leprae. To evaluate the outcomes of ML Flow and ELISA (PGL-I) serological tests in leprosy-endemic areas in comparison to non-endemic ones, a total of 351 volunteers from Brazil and Chile were examined, including leprosy patients, healthy controls and others affected by other infectious or non-infectious diseases that are common differential diagnoses for leprosy. The ELISA cut-off point was established using the ROC Curve method (>or= 0.