Krotoski W A, Mroczkowski T F, Rea T H, Almodovar P I, Clements B C, Neimes R E, Kahkonen M K, Job C K, Hastings R C
Laboratory Research Branch, Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center, Carville, Louisiana.
Am J Med Sci. 1993 Jan;305(1):18-24. doi: 10.1097/00000441-199301000-00004.
Hansen's disease, or leprosy, although a relatively uncommon disease in the United States, continues to be important because of its implications--physical, psychological, and social--for the patient. Prognosis and treatment of the disease are based largely on clinical classification, which ranges from the multibacillary "lepromatous" to the paucibacillary "tuberculoid" forms, depending on the patient's specific immune capabilities. Traditionally, skin testing with lepromins--suspensions of the etiologic agent of Hansen's disease, Mycobacterium leprae--have been used as adjuncts to clinical parameters for classification in endemic areas. However, these have not been systematically studied in the United States. This report describes the results obtained from skin testing 38 volunteers (22 patients and 16 uninfected persons) with standard lepromin preparations. These results support the adjunctive value of lepromins for clinically classifying Hansen's disease in our "hypoendemic" population.
麻风病，即汉森氏病，尽管在美国相对罕见，但因其对患者在身体、心理和社会方面的影响，仍然具有重要意义。该疾病的预后和治疗很大程度上基于临床分类，根据患者的特定免疫能力，分类范围从多菌型的“瘤型”到少菌型的“结核样型”。传统上，在流行地区，用麻风菌素（麻风病病原体麻风分枝杆菌的悬液）进行皮肤试验一直被用作临床参数分类的辅助手段。然而，在美国尚未对其进行系统研究。本报告描述了用标准麻风菌素制剂对38名志愿者（22名患者和16名未感染者）进行皮肤试验所获得的结果。这些结果支持了麻风菌素在我们这个“低流行”人群中对麻风病进行临床分类的辅助价值。
