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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Optimized Protocols for Mycobacterium leprae Strain Management: Frozen Stock Preservation and Maintenance in Athymic Nude Mice

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Leukocyte antimicrobial function in patients with leprosy.

D J Drutz¹, M J Cline, L Levy

¹Division of Infectious Diseases, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California 94110, USA.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation

|February 1, 1974

Summary

This study found that phagocytic cells in leprosy patients function normally, challenging the idea that defective macrophages cause the disease. Further research is needed to pinpoint the exact immune system defect in lepromatous leprosy.

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Area of Science:

Immunology
Infectious Diseases
Microbiology

Background:

Lepromatous leprosy patients exhibit impaired lymphocyte function and non-reactivity to lepromin skin tests.
A proposed cause is defective macrophage processing of Mycobacterium leprae, impacting the immune response.
This defect could explain both lepromin non-reactivity and impaired lymphocyte function.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the in vitro digestive and microbicidal functions of phagocytic cells from leprosy patients.
To determine if macrophages from lepromatous leprosy patients exhibit impaired digestion of Mycobacterium leprae.
To assess the antimicrobial activity of various phagocytic cells against a range of pathogens.

Main Methods:

In vitro digestion assays of heat-killed Mycobacterium leprae by macrophages.
Tissue culture studies assessing Mycobacterium leprae viability.
Microbicidal assays using Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans.
Bacterial iodination tests on polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Main Results:

Macrophages from lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy patients and normal donors showed no difference in digesting Mycobacterium leprae.
Phagocytic cells from leprosy patients maintained normal microbicidal activity against diverse bacteria and fungi.
Polymorphonuclear leukocytes from lepromatous leprosy patients demonstrated normal bacterial iodination.

Conclusions:

The study demonstrates normal in vitro antimicrobial function of phagocytic cells in both lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy.
The findings suggest that defective macrophage function is unlikely to be the primary cause of lepromatous leprosy.
The precise location of the immune defect in lepromatous leprosy, whether in lymphocytes or macrophages, requires further investigation.