A study of cell mediated immunity in leprosy: changing trends in the immunological spectrum of the disease.

Skin tests of delayed hypersensitivity were performed on thirty-eight patients of leprosy with a bacterial antigen (tuberculin), a hapten (dinitrochlorobenzene) and allogenic lymphocytic transplantation. The results have indicated that leprosy is associated with a generalized depression of delayed allergic response. The depression is of greater severity in patients with lepromatous leprosy and less among tuberculoid patients. The depression of cell mediated immunity in these cases is not absolute but is relative and depends upon the dose and potency of an antigen and the severity of the disease.