O-diphenoloxidase concentrations in leprosy.

Abstract

Summary and conclusions 0-diphenoloxidase activity was studied in 15 patients with lepromatous leprosy, 15 with tuberculoid leprosy, and 15 controls. 0-diphenoloxidase isolated from skin and serum samples of patients with lepromatous leprosy had the specificity of a bacterially derived enzyme and not that of a mammalian-derived enzyme. Only the patients who had had lepromatous leprosy for over two years showed enzyme activity in serum, though all showed it in skin tissue.0-diphenoloxidase activity in serum may be a useful diagnostic marker of lepromatous leprosy.