SOLUBLE ADHESION MOLECULES IN SERA OF PATIENTS WITH LEPROSY - LEVELS OF SOLUBLE INTERCELLULAR-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 (SICAM-1) RAPIDLY DECREASE DURING MULTIDRUG THERAPY
P. Rieckmann et al., SOLUBLE ADHESION MOLECULES IN SERA OF PATIENTS WITH LEPROSY - LEVELS OF SOLUBLE INTERCELLULAR-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 (SICAM-1) RAPIDLY DECREASE DURING MULTIDRUG THERAPY, Clinical and experimental immunology, 105(1), 1996, pp. 65-68
The clinicopathological spectrum of leprosy is associated with an alte
red immunological reaction. The expression of adhesion molecules on en
dothelial cells directs the cellular traffic to sites of local skin an
d nerve inflammation. Soluble forms of adhesion molecules, which are r
eleased upon cytokine activation, can be detected in the circulation a
nd may reflect ongoing tissue inflammation. We determined the serum le
vels of sICAM-1, sE-selectin and sL-selectin in 74 patients with lepro
sy (tuberculoid form, n = 23; lepromatous form, n = 36; acute leprous
reaction, n = 16) and 15 healthy age- and sex-matched control donors.
Patients with lepromatous leprosy had significantly higher levels of s
ICAM-1 (564 +/- 174 versus 450 +/- 92 versus 334 +/- 57 ng/ml) and E-s
electin (90 +/- 31 versus 74 +/- 29 versus 50 +/- 10 ng/ml) than patie
nts with tuberculoid leprosy and normal donors (P < 0.01). No differen
ces between groups were detected for L-selectin. Patients with leprous
reactions had similar high levels to lepromatous patients. Twenty lep
romatous patients were re-examined after 4 weeks of therapy. A signifi
cant decrease in sICAM-1 serum levels was observed after 1 month of an
ti-mycobacterial treatment, which was accompanied by a reduction of my
cobacteria in skin biopsies (P < 0.01). Patients with leprous reaction
s (n = 13) also demonstrated a drop in sICAM-1 after anti-inflammatory
therapy. sE-selectin and sl-selectin serum values decreased only in l
epromatous patients after therapy. It can be concluded that soluble ad
hesion molecules like sICAM-1 and sE-selectin are promising activity m
arkers in patients with leprosy, which may be useful for treatment mon
itoring.