T lymphocyte subsets in leprosy. A study of 24 Egyptian patients.

Phenotypic analysis was done on 24 Egyptian leprosy patients and 11 healthy controls. The type of leprosy, duration of disease at the time of testing, and age were found to affect T cell subset distribution. As compared with controls, neural leprosy tended to have a decreased total T cell percentage, borderline leprosy an increased T suppressor cell percentage, and reactional borderline leprosy an increased T helper/suppressor ratio. Patients with the disease for less than 1 year had a higher mean percentage of T suppressor cells and a lower mean T helper/suppressor ratio than patients with leprosy for more than 1 year. The same was true in older (50-70 years old) versus younger (12-41 years old) patients.

Impact of leprosy on family and intimate relationships.

Ninety-eight families with leprotic members were examined. Of these, only two families were identified where both couples were leprotic. The father was the known leprotic member in 46 cases and the mother in 12 families. There were seven cases where the father and one son were leprotic, while in one case it was the mother and son; 25 families presented a leprotic son or daughter, while their parents were apparently free. Leprotic siblings or cousins of nonleprotic parents were seen in five families. The duration of marriage and details of history were taken in each case. The relation between close contact and the development of leprosy will be discussed.

Immunologic aspects of leprosy.

Twenty seven cases of leprosy from Egypt were examined. Monocytes were found to be high in peripheral blood in lepromatous cases. The percentage of small lymphocytes in blood was increased in tuberculoid patients. The immunoglobulins were higher in all types of leprosy patients than in normal persons.