Antibodies to lipoarabinomannan antigen in sooty mangabey monkeys experimentally inoculated with Mycobacterium leprae.

IgG and IgM antibody levels to mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antigen were determined by ELISA in eight sooty mangabey monkeys (Cercocebus atys) prior to and at intervals after experimental inoculation with Mycobacterium leprae. High levels of anti-LAM IgG were present before inoculation and increased thereafter in the five mangabeys that developed lepromatous (LL) forms of leprosy; lower levels of anti-LAM IgG were observed in two mangabeys that developed indeterminate leprosy and tuberculoid/neuritic leprosy, respectively, and in a mangabey that was leprosy resistant. IgM anti-LAM levels were near zero before M. leprae inoculation in all eight animals, rose significantly in only three LL-leprosy-susceptible animals after inoculation, and returned to near zero in all animals within 3 years. Anti-LAM antibody levels appear to be potentially valuable as an indicator of leprosy susceptibility, and when measured longitudinally together with antibody levels to M. leprae-specific phenolic glycolipid-I antigen, as a means to detect preclinical M. leprae infections in high-risk individuals.