Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is a long-term infection by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae, and actually still persists as a serious public health problem. The clinical parameters are used for diagnosis, however, some studies have indicated the selection of a set of biomarkers of subclinical infection, both serological and cellular, that allow the early diagnosis. Some cytokines and chemokines have been differentially expressed in index cases (paucibacillary and multibacillary patients) and household contacts (HHC), and may present a potential biomarker of M. leprae subclinical infection. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the variations in the profile of cytokines and chemokines, longitudinally, between index cases and their household contacts with a view to identifying possible biomarkers with differential expression, which may guide the early subclinical infection in household contacts. A longitudinal study was carried out between 2014 and 2015. The serum levels of the cytokines and chemokines were measured in all patient samples by CBA (Cytometric Bead Array). We observed a reduction of IL-4 and IL-17 expression of HHC group in the second evaluation (T1), as also a reduction of IL-17 in MB. We observed increased expression of IL-2 in PB patients as well. HHC, PB and MB showed a similar reduction profile of the chemokines CXCL8, CXCL9 and CXCL10 from T0 to T1. Interestingly, only serological levels of CCL2 are increased after a follow-up of HHC group, and this group, but not PB and MB patients, showed a significant association and a negative correlation between CCL2 and IFN-γ. The present study showed for the first time a similarity in the immunological scenario between HHC, PB and MB patients. In addition, this work highlights CCL2 chemokine in association with IFN-γ as possible biomarkers of subclinical infection of HHC, as also a parameter of early infection monitoring.

麻风病，又称汉森病，是一种由麻风分枝杆菌长期感染的疾病，实际上仍然是一个严重的公共卫生问题。临床参数用于诊断，然而，一些研究表明选择一组亚临床感染的生物标志物，包括血清学和细胞学，以进行早期诊断。一些细胞因子和趋化因子在指示病例（少杆菌和多杆菌患者）和家庭接触者（HHC）中存在差异表达，可能是麻风杆菌的潜在生物标志物亚临床感染。因此，本研究的目的是纵向分析指示病例与其家庭接触者之间细胞因子和趋化因子谱的变化，以期确定可能具有差异表达的生物标志物，从而指导家庭接触者的早期亚临床感染. 在 2014 年至 2015 年期间进行了一项纵向研究。通过 CBA（Cytometric Bead Array ）测量所有患者样本中细胞因子和趋化因子的血清水平）。我们在第二次评估（T1）中观察到 HHC 组的 IL-4 和 IL-17 表达减少，MB 中 IL-17 也减少。我们还观察到 PB 患者中 IL-2 的表达增加。HHC、PB 和 MB 显示出从 T0 到 T1 趋化因子 CXCL8、CXCL9 和 CXCL10 的相似减少曲线。有趣的是，在 HHC 组的随访后，只有 CCL2 的血清学水平升高，并且该组，而不是 PB 和 MB 患者，在 CCL2 和 IFN-γ 之间显示出显着的关联和负相关。本研究首次显示 HHC、PB 和 MB 患者之间的免疫学情况相似。此外，这项工作强调了与 IFN-γ 相关的 CCL2 趋化因子作为 HHC 亚临床感染的可能生物标志物，也是早期感染监测的一个参数。