Outlooks of synthetic mycobacterial antigens in serological diagnostics of leprosy

Despite the fact that the incidence of leprosy in Russia is sporadic, the number of newly identified patients has increased in recent years. In 2017–2018, 4 new cases of leprosy were registered in Russia. The standard methods of research for diagnosis, in addition to the clinical picture, are bacterioscopic study of the skin scarificates and histological study of the skin biopsy specimen. Currently, additional methods are being developed and used to confirm the diagnosis of leprosy, namely, modern serological and genetic diagnostic methods. To use methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and membrane immunochromatographic analysis (leprosy LF serotest), it is appropriate to use domestic synthetic mycobacterial antigens (SMA). Key words: Mycobacterium leprae, leprosy, synthetic mycobacterial antigens, PGL-1(phenolic glycolipid-1), LAM (lipoarabinomannan), serodiagnostics, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), lateral flow (LF) test, BSA (bovine serum albumin)