Histocompatibility Antigens (HL–A) in Leprosy

HL–A antigens of 70 leprosy patients and 40 normal healthy individuals were determined by the standard microlymphocytotoxicity test. Both lepromatous and non-lepromatous leprosy patients were tested for the presence of 11 HL–A antigens, and the frequency of each specificity was compared with that in a normal population of the same ethnic group. Although the statistical significance of HL–A8 specificity was found to be marginal in lepromatous leprosy patients, when using ordinary 2x2 statistics, there did seem to be a decreased frequency of HL–A9 among the non-lepromatous type. Other antigens tested did not reveal any significant differences between the two groups of subjects.