Lepromin reaction with Dharmendra antigen, Leproagglutination (Ogata) with the cardiolipin-lecithin antigen and Middlebrook-Dubos hemagglutination reaction were tested in 571 cases of leprosy (lepromatous type-436, tuberculoid type-135) and the relation of the intensity of the three reactions to the disease types and the interrelationship between the reactions were studied statistically.
Lepromin reaction was negative in 391 of the 436 lepromatous cases (89.7%) and positive in 109 of 135 tuberculoid cases (80.7%).
An endtiter higher than 1: 32 by Leproagglutination was observed in 83.2% of the lepromatous cases and an endtiter less than 1:16 was seen in 86.7% of the tuberculoid cases.
The endtiter of Middlebrook-Dubos hemagglutination in relation to the disease type was not so definite as with the previous two reactions but the mean endtiter was higher in the lepromatous cases.
Lepromin reaction was in a negative correlation to both Leproagglutination and Middlebrook-Dubos hemagglutination, the latter two were in a positive correlation. Significance of the above correlation among the three reactions in view of the nature of the disease, however, has not been cleared yet.
Lepromin reaction and Leproagglutination are considered to be important means for determining the type of leprosy and by utilizing these two reactions, it will not only be possible to diagnose the disease type with greater accuracy, but also will contribute much to the immunological study of leprosy.

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Early and late reactions to Mitsuda's antigen and early reactions to Dharmendra's antigen were studied in 718 cases of the lepromatous type and 181 cases of the non-lepromatous type of leprosy. The symptoms in which the reaction and the type do not agree were observed and the the clinical course with sulfone treatment in these patients was followed.
1) Early reaction-The cases of the lepromatous type, positive to Mitsuda antigen (5.3%) were for the most part subsided cases but those positive to the Dhamendra's antigen (7.8%) still showed residual dermal eruptions and a large number were still bacteriologically positive whereas 15.7% of the non-lepromatous type were negative or indefinite to the Mitsuda antigen and 10.5% to the Dharmendra antigen and all were bacteriologically negative with depigmented maculae or residual maculae being present in about 1/2 of the cases.
2) Late reaction-Evaluation according to the current criterion of considering a size of greater than 3mm as positive, showed that the late Mitsuda reaction was positive in 88.3% of the lepromatous type and dermal eruptions were present and bacteria positive in more than one-half of the positive cases with only a small number of subsided cases. All of the non-lepromatous type gave a positive late reaction. If however, a size of more than 7mm is considered positive, as proposed by the author, there were 15.2% positives in the lepromatous type and though the positive cases were not limited to those in which the dermal eruptions were completely absorbed, the majority were cases in the subsided stage. The finding that 13.3% of the non-lepromatous type were negative coincides well with the clinical observations.
3) No significant relationship was found between the size of reaction and the duration or dosage of sulfone therapy.

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1) Enzyme activity of M. Leprae murium was examined in asparagin and asparaginic acid and it was found that asparagin is converted to asparaginic acid with freeing of ammonia. It was also shown by studies with the Friedman-Haugen method that transamination takes place between asparaginic acid and a-ketoglutaric acid to give oxalacetic acid.
2) The attempt was made to adapt M. Leprae murium to several organic acids, but results suggestive of production or existence of adaptive enzymes were not obtained.

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In a previous report, it was shown that the action against murine leprosy of isonicotinoyl-3, 4-dimethoxybenzal hydrazone (No.282) was greater than that of isonicotinoyl-3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzal hydrazone (No.254). In the present experiment, the action of isonicotinoyl-3-methoxy-4-ethoxyl benzal hydrazone (No.283) and isonicotinoyl-3, 4-diethoxybenzal hydrazone (No.284), in which the methoxy radical has been replaced by the ethoxy radical, against murine leprosy was studied. The toxicity of these two compounds is very low and doses of 4.5g/kg orally are well tolerated by mice. Studies were also conducted on INH, No.254 and No.282 at the same time. It was found that acid-fast bacilli were present after treatment for 3 months with INH, No.254, No.282 and No.283 but could not be found in 3 out of 6 mice given No.284. Leproma formation was detected in the remaining 3 animals but only a small number of acid-fast bacilli could be isolated.
If a reduction or disappearance of acid-fast bacilli should take place when No.284 is administered in mice in which severe leprotic changes are already present, this agent may be useful in the treatment of human leprosy but further study is required.

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The differences in susceptibility to subcutaneous inoculation with murine leprosy bacilli of mouse strains (C57BL, CF1, C3H, dd, and A) were examined.
Results were evaluated on the basis of the time of the onset, the degree of the development of lepromas, and lepromatous ulcer formation.
Under similar conditions, mice of the C57BL strain showed earlier but smaller lesions than the others. Lesions of the C3H strain developed later but were larger than all others. These two strains presented a striking contrast. The susceptibilities of the other four strains (CF1, CFW, dd, and A) were ranked as intermediate.
The susceptibility of the C57BL strain to ulcer formation was much greater than that of the others, and the dd strain ranked second in severity.

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A total of 294 cases of leprosy was discovered in Gifu prefecture Japan in the 20 year period between 1936 and 1955. The yearly proportion was 0.4-2.5 to 100, 000 population.
The first half of this 20 year period was a time of confusion brought on by the war and because of the economic stress of the people in general and laxity of medical examinations, the rate of discovery or new patients was low. Though there was no great increase as had been feared, there was a cessation of the downward trend which had been observed previously.
After the war, interest in public health heightened and group leprosy examinations have been conducted at frequent intervals and the rate of discovery has risen. A sharp drop however, has been observed since 1952.
A breakdown according to type shows that there were 61% lepromatous type, 16% were macular type and 23% were neural type and the recent trend shows a decrease in the lepromatous type and an increase in the macular type.
The age at which the patient was first seen was 32.4 in the period of 1936-1940 and 40.5 in 1951-1955. The age of onset was 26.5 in 1936-1940 and 38.3 in 1951-1955 and there has been a gradual rise in the age group.
At the same time, there has been a rise in the macular type in the elderly patient.
Differentiation according to sex showed that for each 100 males there was 165 females.
Seventy-eight percent of the patients agreed to confinement in the leprosarium and the average length of wait between discovery and hospitalization was somewhat less than one year, so the time from onset to hospitalization was about 3 years.

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