Characterization of leprosy based on the nasal lipid profile.

While extracting the M. leprae from the nasal flushings of leprosy patients it was found that these organisms were trapped in the waxy layer, between the aqueous and the chloroform layers. Thin layer chromotography (TLC) analysis of this layer, using chloroform-methanol-water system, revealed different spots when sprayed with acid alcohol and heated at 160 degrees C. The TLC profile of lipids of lepromatous and borderline (MB according to the WHO terminology) leprosy patients was distinctly different from that of tuberculoid leprosy patients and normal human volunteers. A simple, economical and fast procedure to characterize patients belonging to different spectra has been developed.