Kasmera (Dec 2006)
Antiphenolic Glycolipid-1 Antibodies in Personnel in Health Centers in Contact with Hansen´S Disease Patients
Abstract
Although leprosy is a disease with a wide range of clinical manifestations, there is a lack of knowledge about the presence of carriers of Mycobacterium leprae (M leprae), as well as its transmission and the immunological phenomena that cause the onset of the illness. The glycolipid phenolic-1 antigen (PGL-1) is a M .leprae specific virulence factor, that protects the bacteria against attack by macrophages. Anti PGL-1 antibodies were detected in health center workers (physicians and paramedics) in close contact with leprosy patients to assess their degree of exposition to the bacilli and to determine their usefulness as a risk factor for developing clinical leprosy. Blood samples from 52 leprosy patients contacts and 60 healthy individuals without leprosy patients contact (control group) were colleted. The presence of IgM anti-PGL-1 antibodies was determined using the ELISA technique. It was found that 42.3% (22) of the contacts and 5.0% (3) of the healthy individuals without leprosy patient contact were positive for anti PGL-1 antibodies (p <0.05). There were no significant differences related to sex among the studied groups (45.5% vs 41.5%). A higher frequency of sero-positive individuals were found in health centers workers of 36 to 55 years of age, especially medical personnel (73.3%), regardless of years of exposition to the same. A relative risk factor of 1.9 was found in the individuals in close contact with leprosy patients. These results show a higher sero-positive level among health centers workers, especially physicians, which is related to their degree of exposition to the Hansen bacilli. These findings suggest that they have an increased risk of developing clinical leprosy in comparison with the general population. It is recommended that proper basic bio-safety measures be taken as well as follow-up of the sero-positive cases found.
