Dharmendra antigen

The Dharmendra antigen is a test widely used in India. The antigen is a suspension of de-fatted leprosy bacilli which has been extracted with chloroform-ether and killed, either by heat, or by other effective methods. This antigen was first reported by Dharmendra in 1941–42 and later standardized in 1979 by Sangupta et al.[1]

Dharmendra's Lepromin suspension consists of 10 mg of the dried and de-fatted, bacillary powder, dissolved in 100 ml carbol saline solution. It is a revised form of the original Lepromin test developed in 1919 by Kensuke Mitsuda. The Dharmendra test allows to differentiate tuberculoid leprosy from lepromatous leprosy.