Comparison in man of lepromins prepared from leprosy infections in man and mice.

Two methods for preparing a suspension of from tissues of infected mice, using enzyme digestion, are described. The suspensions of mouse lepromin' were compared with standard human lepromin as skin test antigens in forty-nine leprosy patients with various types of the disease. The reactions to mouse lepromin' were closely similar to those produced by standard lepromin, and patients with lepromatous leprosy failed to react to either antigen. This helped to confirm that the same organism produced human leprosy and the infection in mice and that was the main cause of the lepromin reaction.