Specific serological diagnosis of leprosy with a recombinant Mycobacterium leprae protein purified from a rapidly growing mycobacterial host.

In this report we demonstrate the utility of an monoclonal antibody inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on the Mycobacterium leprae 35-kDa protein, purified from the rapidly growing host Mycobacterium smegmatis, for the serodiagnosis of multibacillary leprosy. The assay proved highly specific (97.5%) and sensitive (90%) and compared favorably with two other established methods routinely utilized for leprosy serodiagnosis.