Humoral immunity in Hansen's Disease

Abstract

For many years immune response in leprosy has been studied. Since 1960 several reports dealing with humoral immunity have been described in the literature. Different autoantibody rates occur in leprosy. There is an increase in the prevalence of autoantibodies in elderly patients with long standing disease, in lepromatous leprosy and in those with reactional states. The differences in rates among various studies are attributed to different methods and variations among patient samples concerning age, gender, polar forms, therapy and other elements. The prevalence of numerous antibodies, immune complexes, cryoglobulins and complement levels have been studied by many authors. This also highlights the importance of the more recent reviews of anti-Mycobacterium leprae glycolipid antibodies such as the anti-phenolic glycolipid-I antibodies in which titers are variable and depend on genetic factors.

Lepromatous leprosy simulating rheumatoid arthritis - Report of a neglected disease

“…4 Nevertheless, the positivity of these autoantibodies has also been described in a number of infectious diseases such as malaria, bacterial endocarditis, tuberculosis, and leprosy. 3-5,8,9 Several other autoantibodies were identified in patients with leprosy, including thyroglobulin, anti-smooth muscle, as well as false positive reactions for syphilis, as we observed in our case. 3,5 …”

“…4,7,8 However, studies show that there is no correlation between the occurrence of arthritis in leprosy and the presence of RF, justified by the fact that most cases of arthritis in these patients are infectious. 4,5,7 …”

“…A clinical picture of lepromatous leprosy associated with articular manifestations, which are also common in these patients, may lead to misdiagnosis and delay the onset of treatment. 4,5 We report a case of lepromatous leprosy simulating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aiming at alerting health professionals that leprosy is a great mimicking disease in order to avoid misinterpretations of serologic findings.…”

Perda auditiva neurossensorial em pacientes com granulomatose de Wegener: relato de três casos e revisão de literatura

“…(7) A orelha média é o local mais freqüentemente acometido. A otite média serosa é a principal manifestação e pode estar associada à infecção ou obstrução da nasofaringe (8) . A otite média crônica supurativa muitas vezes leva à suspeita da doença pelo seu caráter refratário ou recorrente e pode ser a primeira manifestação na doença limitada (9) .…”

Considerações Sobre Uma Avaliação Clínica Específica Da Coluna Vertebral Em Trabalhadores De Enfermagem

“…E importante destacar que as dores nas costas são sintomas descritos na literatura através de inúmeras terminologias: costas dolorosas 18 , dor nas costas 29,51 , cervicodorsolombalgias 48 , dores na coluna 44,46 , síndromes dolorosas 15,19 e algias vertebrais 48 . As dores nas costas têm uma importância primordial em virtude de sua freqüência e dos seus efeitos incapacitantes.…”