Learning from leprosy: insights into contemporary immunology from an ancient disease.

Leprosy provides an ideal model to study immune responses in humans and in skin. Learning from leprosy, we have gained insight into mechanisms of host resistance and susceptibility to infection. New paradigms include the role of Th1/Th2 cytokines, the ability of CD1 to present nonpeptide antigens to T cells, the ability of microbial lipoproteins to stimulate antimicrobial activity in monocytes and the demonstration that T cells can mediate a direct antimicrobial activity through release of granulysin. Together, these findings provide a rationale for developing new strategies to treat and prevent infectious disease.

Immunology in Malaysia--a review.

Immunology is a discipline that traverses all branches of clinical medicine. Thus since about ten years ago major hospitals in Malaysia established routine clinical immunology services particularly in the diagnosis of autoimmune/connective tissue disorders. More recently these laboratories have ventured into basic research in Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, Leukaemia Immunology, Nasopharyngeal Cancer and Leprosy. The rationale for these projects together with early results from them are discussed.