Abstract: In order to understand the immunofunction in cured patients with leprosy,and study the immunopathogenetic role of TNF-α in leprosy patients and anti infection immuno mechanism of TNF-α in leprosy patients,serum levels of TNF-α of 62 cured leprosy patients and 28 their first generation relatives in Lanxi County,Zhejiang Province were determined,and local normal persons were randomly selected as controls.The results showed that the TNF-α of different types of cured leprosy patients were lower than those of normal controls(P<0.02～0.001).The TNF-α levels of lepromatous leprosy patients were the lowest among all patients.But the TNF-α levels between BB LL patients and TT BT patients,and the TNF-α levels between leprosy patient relatives and normal controls showed no significant difference(P>0.05).The results of this paper suggest that the cured patients still have TNF-α disturbance and decreased immunofunction,and decreased level of TNF-α may relate to the specific immuno deficiency of leprosy patients to M.leprae.It also suggests that the TNF-α level of cured leprosy patients does not correlate with the type and prognosis of leprosy patients.

Key words: Leprosy, Tumor necrosis factor α