Treatment of leprosy with weekly intravenous infusion of leukocytes.

Two patients with lepromatous leprosy were treated with weekly intra-venous infusions of leukocyte concentrates for a period of 12 consecutive weeks. A reversal reaction was induced in one of the patients, and it was possible to control chronic erythema nodosum leprosum in the other subject. Possible pathogenetic mechanisms involved in the induction of these changes include the action of transfer factor, interactions between B- and T-lymphocytes or the mediation of a lymphokine necessary for the effective function of the cell-mediated immunity. Immunotherapy for chronic infections, such as leprosy, still has not become a reality.