Hepatic lesions in asymptomatic children of leprosy patients.

Forty-two asymptomatic children of leprosy patients were studied for possible hepatic lesions. Hepatic lesions were observed in 47% while acid-fast bacilli in the liver were found in 9.5%. The most frequent lesions encountered included granuloma in 9.5%, focal areas of necrosis in 14%, portal triaditis in 17%, and Kupffer cell hyperplasia in 33%. Occasionally more than one lesion was observed in a biopsy. No correlation with the occurrence of the various hepatic lesions could be made with a history of BCG vaccination or results of skin tests done with tuberculin and lepromin.

Passive transfer of immunity into leprosy patients by transfusion of lymphocytes and by transfusion of Lawrence's transfer factor.

About 1,200 million viable lymphocytes from normal but lepromin- and tuberculin-positive human beings were transfused in four patients of lepromatous and one of tuberculoid leprosy three times at monthly intervals. Three patients of lepromatous leprosy suffered from erythema modosum, whereas the other two developed severe reaction whenever put on the smallest dose of dapsone. In one patient of lepromatous leprosy, minimal improvement or none was observed, whereas in the remaining three cases of lepromatous and one of tuberculoid leprosy, clinical, bacteriological, as well as histological improvement occurred. Two of the five patients started to tolerate the dapsone during the period of study. The present study indicates that immunotherapy might have a definite role in the management of the disease especially in cases with erythema nodosum. Lawrence factor, prepared from leucocytes of normal donors, was transfused three times into four lepromatous leprosy patients who were intolerant to anti-leprosy drugs. The donors were healthy but were tuberculin and lepromin (Mitsuda) positive. The clinical, histological, bacteriological (morphological index), and immunological assessments of the patients were performed before and 5 months after starting the immunotherapy. In two patients conversion of Mitsuda reaction occurred, but there was no appreciable improvement in the clinical, histologic, and bacteriologic status of these patients.

Renal lesions in leprosy

Thirthy patients with lepromatous and nonlepromatous leprosy were studied in respect to their renal lesions and changes in kidney function. In none of the patients were specific lesions of the disease found, nor was Mycobacterium leprae demonstrable in any. The most frequent lesions met with included focal interstitial nephritis, glomerular hypercellularity, tubular degeneration, and hyalinization of smail-sized and medium-sized blood vessels. In addition, three patients showed circumscribed aggregates of mononuclear cells, and one showed chronic pyelonephritis. The affection of the kidney was independent of the duration and the type of leprosy.