RESUMO
Background: It was assumed that the recognition of auto-antigens induced by environmental and infective micro-organisms may be involved in the clinical presentation of leprosy and a number of auto-imune diseases. Methodes: Serum antibodies to epidermal antigens in the blood of 21 healthy mothers and in the cordblood of their new-bor were compared using immunoblotting before and after absortion of the sera with mycobacteria (M. marinum, M. tuberculosis, M. kansaii). Results: Sera of the mothers caontained a higher antibody titre than that of their rspective babies. The pattern of bands for IgG was the same, for IgM the sera of 14 mothers showed more bandsthan that of their off-spring. Absorption with the mycobacteria, especially M. tuberculosis resulted in the partial or total disappearance of some bands. Conclusion: The results of this study provide some supportive evidence for the above-mentioned assumption. The observation that M. tuberculosis was the most effective in the absorption experiment may be because of the BCG vaccination all the mothers had received in infancy
