Y Serial Cephalin Flocculation Test in Leprosy a Preliminary Report

In 1943 Bruger (1) proposed a fractional cephalin-cholesterol flocculation test to be used as an index of increasing or decreasing hepatic dysfunction. This modified test consisted in the use of increasing dilutions of serum with saline, noting the flocculation according to the procedure originally described by Hanger. The data presented in support of the modified test do show that, when it is repeated at various intervals, changes occur which can be interpreted as indicative of increasing or decreasing function. Because of differences in the dilutions used by Bruger (1: 10 serum dilution in the first tube), Makari (2) found that false positive reactions occurred which resulted in minor alterations of the curves. He devised a serial dilution technique in which the amount of serum added to the first tube was identical to that used in the original one-tube Hanger method. In a recent study in this laboratory of liver function tests in leprosy (5), it was found that the cephalin-cholesterol test of Hanger was positive in 68.4 per cent of the 152 cases studied. It was thought that the serial dilutions of sera with saline in conjunction with the cephalin-cholesterol method might be of interest.