Studies of human leprosy lesions in situ using suction-induced blisters. 1. Cellular components of new, uncomplicated lesions

• Main Authors: Rangdaeng S., Scollard DM., Suriyanon V., Smith T., Thamprasert K., Theetranont C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3502482; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/3581
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

The cellular contents of blisters induced by suction over new, uncomplicated leprosy lesions, and in the skin of cured, control patients, have been examined with enzyme- and immuno-histochemical staining over a period of 4 days. The total cellularity of the blisters varied over a wide range, not correlated with the type of leprosy. Mononuclear cells predominated at all times studied, with nearly equal percentages of monocytes and T lymphocytes. The T-helper: suppressor ratio was significantly greater in BT than in BL and LL lesions at 48 hr. Suction blisters offer a painless, quantitative, reproducible, multiple-sampling method for obtaining cells from the cutaneous infiltrates of leprosy for phenotyping or functional analysis.