Evaluation of Serum Anti-Ceramide Antibody Levels in Egyptian Leprosy Patients

Background: Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease affecting skin and nerves. The nerve damage that occurs in leprosy is the most serious aspect of this disease as nerve damage leads to progressive impairment and disability. It is important to identify markers of nerve damage so that preventive measures can be taken. Objective: To evaluate anti-ceramide antibody as a reliable marker in the assessment of nerve damage in paucibacillary and multibacillary leprosy patients. Patients and Methods: The present study included a total of 50 leprosy patients (25 paucibacillary and 25 multibacillary) and 50 healthy controls. Serum levels of anti-ceramide antibody were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Results were reported in optical density (OD) units as mean±SD and analyzed by Chi square test (significance at p<0.05). Results: MB leprosy patients had significantly higher (p<0.001) anti-ceramide antibody serum levels compared to PB leprosy patients and healthy controls (0.633±0.150, 0.345 ±0.099 and 0.143±0.058, respectively). The serum level of ACA was significantly correlated with the duration of the disease in both PB and MB groups ( r=0.676 & 0.653; p<0.001) respectively. Conclusions: It is important to identify markers of nerve damage in leprosy patients so that preventive measures can be taken. Anticeramide antibodies can serve as a marker for nerve damage by showing the extent of nerve damage, allowing for better management.