Oskam Linda, Slim Erik, Bührer-Sékula Samira
Lepr Rev. 2003 Sep;74(3):196-205.
Specific antibodies can be used as a surrogate marker for bacterial load in leprosy. Tests to detect antibodies can be used for (i) the classification of patients for treatment purposes [most multibacillary (MB) patients are seropositive, most paucibacillary (PB) patients are not], (ii) the prediction of an increased risk of relapse and (iii) the identification of contacts having an increased risk of developing leprosy. With the advent of fast, robust and easy to perform serological tests such as lateral flow, agglutination and card tests, the application of serology in the field for these purposes becomes a feasible prospect. We hereby present an overview of the current knowledge and new developments in this area and discuss the strengths, limitations and possible applications of antibody detection in leprosy research and control.
特异性抗体可作为麻风病细菌载量的替代标志物。检测抗体的试验可用于：（i）为治疗目的对患者进行分类[大多数多菌型（MB）患者血清学呈阳性，大多数少菌型（PB）患者血清学呈阴性]，（ii）预测复发风险增加，以及（iii）识别患麻风病风险增加的接触者。随着快速、可靠且易于操作的血清学检测方法（如侧向流动检测、凝集试验和卡片试验）的出现，血清学在该领域用于这些目的的应用成为一个可行的前景。我们在此概述该领域的现有知识和新进展，并讨论抗体检测在麻风病研究和控制中的优势、局限性及可能的应用。
