Abstract
Objective: To search the literature for autoantibodies and clinical records in leprosy patients in scientific studies and their relationship with clinical manifestations. Methods: This is an review searching for articles indexed in the PubMed database within 10 years. A search was performed using three descriptors: leprosy, immunomodulation and autoantibodies. Results: We found 39 articles, of which 27 were excluded following the inclusion and exclusion criteria and 12 articles were selected to answer the central question of this review. The autoantibodies cited were anti-phospholipids (aCL and anti-b2-GPI), anti-nucleus (ANA), rheumatoid factor (FR) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP). It has been reported in most studies of lepromatous patients who had a higher positivity for autoantibodies. Conclusion: Based on the results, we can verify that the presence of autoantibodies and autoimmune symptoms, in leprosy patients can induce a misdiagnosis between this pathology and rheumatological diseases. There is still need for studies evaluating a relationship of clinical manifestations of leprosy with the epidemiological and social aspects of patients, associating with autoimmune symptoms and positivity for autoantibodies in order to elucidate immunomodulatory characteristics of Mycobacterium leprae.