Effects of levamisole on the tuberculin test

The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of Levamisole to stimulate delayed tuberculin cutaneous hypersensitivity in malnourished and eutrophic infants who in spite of having been given BCG at birth, repeatedly failed to react to Mantoux intradermo-reaction. Leucocyte, lymphocyte and RFC counts, and blast cell transformation tests with PHA, BCG and AT were carried out at the beginning of the study, and every 4 weeks over a 4 month period. Tuberculin conversion occurred in 60% of the well-nourished and in 58% of the malnourished infants. Between the second to fourth months of treatment, 64% of the cases of PCM reached normal nutritional conditions, while 18% showed only fair recovery. The restoration of BCG-BCTT and AT-BCTT occurred before or during the cutaneous tuberculin reaction in both malnourished and well-nourished infants. Confirmation of the new chemical agent as being directly responsible for tuberculin conversion is difficult with the methods currently available. The positive reactions may be a consequence of the improvement observed in the weight-height parameters.