Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| study of the density and distribution of mycobacterium leprae in the epidermis and skin appendages in lepromatous patients. | 2011 | 21860164 | |
| Oral lesion in leprosy: borderline tuberculoid diagnosis based on detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA by qPCR. | Oral lesions are rarely reported in paucibacillary forms of leprosy. We report here a case with an erythematous hyposensitive lesion in the palate and no skin lesions. In addition to routine tests, biopsies of the lesion in the palate and of clinically normal surrounding areas were performed and subjected to real-time PCR for detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA. The biopsy of the oral lesion was positive for bacilli DNA, followed by positive serum anti-PGL-1 and Mitsuda test, but with negative ... | 2011 | 21879249 |
| A network of regulatory pathways in lepromatous leprosy. | 2011 | 21903479 | |
| Serum metabolomics reveals higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lepromatous leprosy: potential markers for susceptibility and pathogenesis. | Leprosy is a disease of the skin and peripheral nervous system caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. The clinical presentations of leprosy are spectral, with the severity of disease determined by the balance between the cellular and humoral immune response of the host. The exact mechanisms that facilitate disease susceptibility, onset and progression to certain clinical phenotypes are presently unclear. Various studies have examined lipid metabolism in leprosy, but ... | 2011 | 21909445 |
| tnf -308g>a single nucleotide polymorphism is associated with leprosy among brazilians: a genetic epidemiology assessment, meta-analysis, and functional study. | leprosy is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. tumor necrosis factor (tnf) plays a key role in the host response. some association studies have implicated the single nucleotide polymorphism tnf -308g>a in leprosy susceptibility, but these results are still controversial. we first conducted 4 association studies (2639 individuals) that showed a protective effect of the -308a allele (odds ratio [or] = 0.77; p = .005). next, results of a meta-analysis reinforced this association a ... | 2011 | 21917899 |
| Genetic variations and interactions in anti-inflammatory cytokine pathway genes in the outcome of leprosy: a study conducted on a MassARRAY platform. | Mycobacterium leprae is the etiologic pathogen that causes leprosy. The outcome of disease is dependent on the host genetic background. | 2011 | 21917900 |
| thalidomide modulates mycobacterium leprae-induced nf-κb pathway and lower cytokine response. | it is widely accepted that tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-α) plays a critical role in the development of tissue and nerve damage in leprosy and during the reactional episodes of acute inflammation. thalidomide (n-α-phthalimidoglutarimide), a drug used to treat leprosy reaction, modulates immune response, inhibits inflammation and nf-κb activity. here we investigated whether thalidomide inhibits nf-κb activation induced by mycobacterium leprae, p38 and erk1/2 mapk activation. emsa and supershif ... | 2011 | 21925494 |
| [our role in sentinel surveillance for drug resistance in leprosy by global leprosy programme]. | sentinel surveillance for drug resistance in leprosy by global leprosy programme has launched in 2006. possible contribution of japanese researchers to global leprosy control in the future were discussed on the base of circumstances of the project and our assignment in the sueveillance. | 2011 | 21941835 |
| the long-term effect of current and new interventions on the new case detection of leprosy: a modeling study. | although the number of newly detected leprosy cases has decreased globally, a quarter of a million new cases are detected annually and eradication remains far away. current options for leprosy prevention are contact tracing and bcg vaccination of infants. future options may include chemoprophylaxis and early diagnosis of subclinical infections. this study compared the predicted trends in leprosy case detection of future intervention strategies. | 2011 | 21949895 |
| a mycobacterium leprae hsp65 mutant as a candidate for mitigating lupus aggravation in mice. | hsp60 is an abundant and highly conserved family of intracellular molecules. increased levels of this family of proteins have been observed in the extracellular compartment in chronic inflammation. administration of m. leprae hsp65 [wt] in [nzbxnzw]f(1) mice accelerates the systemic lupus erythematosus [sle] progression whereas the point mutated k(409)a hsp65 protein delays the disease. here, the biological effects of m. leprae hsp65 leader pep and k(409)a pep synthetic peptides, which cover res ... | 2011 | 21961033 |
| A study of knowledge, attitude and practices regarding leprosy among undergraduates and interns of a medical college and hospital from rural India. | Leprosy is an Infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and acquired through droplet infection. India has been carrying the 2/3rd global leprosy burden. Inadequate or incorrect information and knowledge about the disease and its treatment are the root causes of many stigmas and inhibitions prevalent in the various sections of the community. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding leprosy among undergraduates (final year medical stu ... | 2011 | 21972659 |
| current status of leprosy: epidemiology, basic science and clinical perspectives. | leprosy has affected humans for millennia and remains an important health problem worldwide, as evidenced by nearly 250 000 new cases detected every year. it is a chronic infectious disorder, caused by mycobacterium leprae, that primarily affects the skin and peripheral nerves. recent advances in basic science have improved our knowledge of the disease. variation in the cellular immune response is the basis of a range of clinical manifestations. the introduction of multidrug therapy has signific ... | 2011 | 21973237 |
| modulation of the cytokine response in human monocytes by mycobacterium leprae phenolic glycolipid-1. | leprosy is a chronic but treatable infectious disease caused by the intracellular pathogen mycobacterium leprae. m. leprae cell wall is characterized by a unique phenolic glycolipid-1 (pgl-1) reported to have several immune functions. we have examined the role of pgl-1 in the modulation of monocyte cytokine/chemokine production in naive human monocytes. pgl-1 in its purified form or expressed in a recombinant mycobacterium bovis bacillus colmette-guérin (bcg) background (rbcg-pgl-1) was tested. ... | 2011 | 21981546 |
| comparison between microsatellites and ml mnth gene as targets to identify mycobacterium leprae by pcr in leprosy. | the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) technique has been frequently used in the molecular diagnosis of leprosy. | 2011 | 21987128 |
| mycobacterium leprae reca is structurally analogous but functionally distinct from mycobacterium tuberculosis reca protein. | mycobacterium leprae is closely related to mycobacterium tuberculosis, yet causes a very different illness. detailed genomic comparison between these two species of mycobacteria reveals that the decaying m. leprae genome contains less than half of the m. tuberculosis functional genes. the reduction of genome size and accumulation of pseudogenes in the m. leprae genome is thought to result from multiple recombination events between related repetitive sequences, which provided the impetus to inves ... | 2011 | 22001565 |
| expression of the chemokine receptor cxcr4 on lymphocytes of leprosy patients. | leprosy is caused by mycobacterium leprae, which induces chronic granulomatous infection of the skin and peripheral nerves. the disease ranges from the tuberculoid to the lepromatous forms, depending on the cellular immune response of the host. chemokines are thought to be involved in the immunopathogenesis of leprosy, but few studies have investigated the expression of chemokine receptors on leukocytes of leprosy patients. in the present study, we evaluated 21 leprosy patients (m/f: 16/5) with ... | 2011 | 22002092 |
| Chimpanzees used for medical research shed light on the pathoetiology of leprosy. | Leprosy is a chronic infectious disorder caused by Mycobacterium leprae, which mainly affects skin and peripheral nerves. It is classified as either paucibacillary or multibacillary based upon clinical manifestations and slit-skin smear results. It is speculated that leprosy develops after a long latency period following M. leprae infection. However, the actual time of infection and the duration of latency have never been proven in human patients. To date, four cases of spontaneous leprosy have ... | 2011 | 22004034 |
| an enlarged, adaptable active site in cyp164 family p450 enzymes, the sole p450 in mycobacterium leprae. | cyp164 family p450 enzymes are found in only a subset of mycobacteria and include cyp164a1, which is the sole p450 found in mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy. this has previously led to interest in this enzyme as a potential drug target. here we describe the first crystal structure of a cyp164 enzyme, cyp164a2 from mycobacterium smegmatis. cyp164a2 has a distinctive, enlarged hydrophobic active site that extends above the porphyrin ring toward the access channels. unusually, w ... | 2012 | 22037849 |
| A history of leprosy in Iran during the 19th and 20th centuries. | From ancient time leprosy has been regarded as a terrifying, stigmatized disease; nevertheless, its cause remained unidentified up to the late 19th century. For centuries numerous leprosy victims worldwide suffered from its morbidity and were socially isolated. The afflicted individuals were segregated because they were considered 'unclean' and had to live in leper colonies, generally under very poor conditions. Physicians believed that leprosy was an incurable, highly contagious, and hereditary ... | 2011 | 22039850 |
| Nail Involvement in Leprosy. | Leprosy, a disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, primarily affects the skin and nerves, but the nails are also involved in as many as 3 out of 4 patients .The factors that trigger nail changes in leprosy are numerous and include repeated trauma, neuropathy, vascular impairment, infections, lepra reactions, and the drugs used to manage the disease. The changes most often reported include subungual hematomas, onycholysis, onychauxis, onychogryphosis, pterygium unguis, and onychoheterotopia, most ... | 2011 | 22056258 |
| i've tried rattlesnake, frog legs and other exotic foods. are there any i should avoid? | 2011 | 22059261 | |
| association of variants in bat1-lta-tnf-btnl2 genes within 6p21.3 region show graded risk to leprosy in unrelated cohorts of indian population. | host immune response against mycobacterium leprae plays an important role in providing resistance to infection and disease progression. genome-wide linkage and association studies suggest the possibility of multiple risk loci within hla (6p21.3) region. any systematic study of relevance within the histocompatibility complex of importance in host immune response would be pertinent because of non-replication of the known loci and unavailable information on some of the unexplored genes and regions. ... | 2011 | 22071774 |
| evaluation of various cytokines elicited during antigen-specific recall as potential risk indicators for the differential development of leprosy. | leprosy is a dermato-neurological disease caused by mycobacterium leprae infection that manifests across a wide range of clinical and immunological outcomes. diagnosis is still currently based on clinical manifestations and simple tests are needed. this study investigated whether biomarkers induced by defined m. leprae proteins in 24-h whole blood assays (wba) could discriminate active leprosy patients from at-risk contacts. newly diagnosed, untreated paucibacillary (pb; tuberculoid leprosy/bord ... | 2011 | 22076550 |
| leprosy initially misdiagnosed as sarcoidosis, adult-onset still disease, or autoinflammatory disease. | leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. we describe the case of a 20-year-old man from india living in italy since 2003, who presented with erythematous papules and nodules distributed on his arms, legs, and face in 2006. he also had episodes of high fever, polyarthritis, and episcleritis. sarcoidosis was suspected on the basis of elevated angiotensin-converting enzyme and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and the patient was treated with corticosteroids for about ... | 2011 | 22089994 |
| diagnosing leprosy: revisiting the role of the slit-skin smear with critical analysis of the applicability of polymerase chain reaction in diagnosis. | diagnosing leprosy is challenging, especially in early-stage cases, and the need for a sensitive diagnostic tool is urgent. polymerase chain reaction (pcr) holds promise as a simple and sensitive diagnostic tool, but its usefulness in the indian context requires further evaluation. slit-skin smear (sss) remains the conventional method of leprosy detection. hence, this study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the diagnostic efficacy of pcr versus that of sss. | 2011 | 22097999 |
| dynamics of mycobacterium leprae transmission in environmental context: deciphering the role of environment as a potential reservoir. | leprosy is a disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. various modes of transmission have been suggested for this disease. transmission and risk of the infection is perhaps related to presence of the infectious cases and is controlled by environmental factors. evidence suggests that humidity may favor survival of m. leprae in the environment. several reports show that non-human sources like 'naturally' infected armadillos or monkeys could act as reservoir for m. leprae. inanimate objects or fomite ... | 2012 | 22101333 |
| Homology modeling and docking analyses of M. leprae Mur ligases reveals the common binding residues for structure based drug designing to eradicate leprosy. | Multi drug resistance capacity for Mycobacterium leprae (MDR-Mle) demands the profound need for developing new anti-leprosy drugs. Since most of the drugs target a single enzyme, mutation in the active site renders the antibiotic ineffective. However, structural and mechanistic information on essential bacterial enzymes in a pathway could lead to the development of antibiotics that targets multiple enzymes. Peptidoglycan is an important component of the cell wall of M. leprae. The biosynthesis o ... | 2011 | 22102165 |
| amino acid substitutions at position 95 in gyra can add fluoroquinolone resistance to mycobacterium leprae. | amino acid substitutions at position 89 or 91 in gyra of fluoroquinolone-resistant mycobacterium leprae clinical isolates have been reported. in contrast, those at position 94 in m. tuberculosis, equivalent to position 95 in m. leprae, have been identified most frequently. to verify the possible contribution of amino acid substitutions at position 95 in m. leprae to fluoroquinolone resistance, we conducted an in vitro assay using wild-type and mutant recombinant dna gyrases. fluoroquinolone-medi ... | 2011 | 22106221 |
| The role of neuregulin-1 in the response to nerve injury. | Axons and Schwann cells exist in a highly interdependent relationship: damage to one cell type invariably leads to pathophysiological changes in the other. Greater understanding of communication between these cell types will not only give insight into peripheral nerve development, but also the reaction to and recovery from peripheral nerve injury. The type III isoform of neuregulin-1 (NRG1) has emerged as a key signaling factor that is expressed on axons and, through binding to erbB2/3 receptors ... | 2011 | 22121335 |
| what is the evidence that the putative mycobacterium lepromatosis species causes diffuse lepromatous leprosy? | han et al. have made a retrospective isolation of dna from two patients with fatal lucio's phenomenon. this dna does have some molecular differences to m. leprae and may constitute a variant of m. leprae. however the experiments and data needed to confirm that this is a new leprosy-causing species have not yet been done. we have outlined the work that does need to be done. for the moment the assertion that 'm. lepromatosis' is a new leprosy-causing species is not proven. | 2011 | 22125927 |
| does clofazimine prevent erythema nodosum leprosum (enl) in leprosy? a retrospective study, comparing the experience of multibacillary patients receiving either 12 or 24 months who-mdt. | to compare the occurrence, duration and severity of enl in leprosy patients treated with either 12 or 24 months of standard multi-drug therapy (mdt). | 2011 | 22125929 |
| Changes in the size and number of skin lesions in PB leprosy on treatment and follow-up. | The increase in size of existing skin lesions and appearance of new skin lesions are considered important signs of clinical activity both in untreated and treated leprosy. To confirm such activity, the number and size of lesions need to be recorded methodically prior to therapy and on follow-up, especially in PB leprosy where clinical signs alone define the reactivation of the disease. However, no systematic follow-up studies are available on changes in size and number of skin lesions in PB lepr ... | 2011 | 22125932 |
| the activity of several newer antimicrobials against logarithmically multiplying m. leprae in mice. | moxifloxacin, rifampicin, rifapentine, linezolid, and pa 824, alone and in combination, have been previously administered, as single doses and five times daily doses, to m. leprae infected mice during lag phase multiplication and were each found to have some bactericidal activity. | 2011 | 22125933 |
| childhood leprosy in a tertiary-care hospital in delhi, india: a reappraisal in the post-elimination era. | to assess the profile and describe the clinical presentations, clinico-histopathological profile, complications and treatment compliance of childhood leprosy at a tertiary care hospital in north-east district of delhi during 2000-2009. | 2011 | 22125934 |
| a lipopeptide facilitate induction of mycobacterium leprae killing in host cells. | little is known of the direct microbicidal activity of t cells in leprosy, so a lipopeptide consisting of the n-terminal 13 amino acids lipopeptide (lipok) of a 33-kd lipoprotein of mycobacterium leprae, was synthesized. lipok activated m. leprae infected human dendritic cells (dcs) to induce the production of il-12. these activated dcs stimulated autologous cd4(+) or cd8(+) t cells towards type 1 immune response by inducing interferon-gamma secretion. t cell proliferation was also evident from ... | 2011 | 22132248 |
| Peptides of Lsr2 of Mycobacterium leprae show hierarchical responses in lymphoproliferative assays with selective recognition by anergic lepromatous leprosy patients. | Lsr2 protein of Mycobacterium leprae (ML) was shown earlier to elicit B and T cell responses in leprosy patients (20, 28). Lymphproliferation to ML and Lsr 2 antigens respectively was observed in > 70% of tuberculoid (T) and in 16 and 34 % of lepromatous (L) patients. We focused on the ML non responders in the lepromatous group using 22 synthetic Lsr 2 peptides (end to end: A to F, overlapping: p1 to p16) in in vitro T cell responses. A total of 125 leprosy, 13 tuberculosis patients and 17 healt ... | 2011 | 22144494 |
| elimination of leprosy as a public health problem by 2000 ad: an epidemiological perspective. | leprosy is caused by mycobacterium leprae and manifests as damage to the skin and peripheral nerves. the disease is dreaded because it causes deformities, blindness and disfigurement. worldwide, 2 million people are estimated to be disabled by leprosy. multidrug therapy is highly effective in curing leprosy, but treating the nerve damage is much more difficult. the world health assembly targeted to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem from the world by 2000. the objective of the review w ... | 2011 | 22145052 |
| Report of three new leprosy cases in children under fifteen in the municipality of Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro: event alert for epidemiological investigation. | Leprosy is an infectious disease with an average incubation period of two to five years. It is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, mainly affecting skin, mucous membranes and peripheral nerves. When it occurs in children under fifteen, it reflects an intense and long contact period, with a high bacillary load. Therefore, it is considered an important alert sign that points to the challenge of controlling the disease. The authors report three cases of leprosy in children under fifteen that occurred i ... | 2011 | 22147046 |
| Circulating levels of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) correlate with disease status in leprosy. | ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Caused by Mycobacterium leprae (ML), leprosy presents a strong immune-inflammatory component, whose status dictates both the clinical form of the disease and the occurrence of reactional episodes. Evidence has shown that, during the immune-inflammatory response to infection, the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I (GH/IGF-I) plays a prominent regulatory role. However, in leprosy, little, if anything, is known about the interaction between the immune and neuroendocr ... | 2011 | 22166091 |
| frequencies of mica alleles in patients from southern brazil with multibacillary and paucibacillary leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, which mainly affects the skin and nervous system. the disease has several clinical forms. this study investigated the mica and hla-b genes in 223 samples from leprosy patients and 201 samples from healthy individuals matched for age, gender and ethnical background. of the patients, 153 had multibacillary, 45 paucibacillary and 25 indeterminate leprosy. the aim of this case-control study was to assess whether the mica alleles ... | 2011 | 22168250 |
| real-time pcr and high resolution melt analysis for rapid detection of mycobacterium leprae drug resistance mutations and strain types. | drug resistance surveillance and strain typing of mycobacterium leprae are necessary to investigate ongoing transmission of leprosy in endemic regions. to enable wider implementation of these molecular analyses, novel real time-pcr-high resolution melt (rt-pcr-hrm) assays without allele specific primers or probes and post pcr sample handling were developed. for the detection of mutations within drug resistance determining regions (drdrs) of folp1, rpob and gyra, targets for dapsone, rifampicin a ... | 2011 | 22170923 |
| Comparative analyses of transport proteins encoded within the genomes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. | The co-emergence of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacterial strains and the HIV pandemic has made tuberculosis a leading public health threat. The causative agent is Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtu), a facultative intracellular parasite. Mycobacterium leprae (Mle), a related organism that causes leprosy, is an obligate intracellular parasite. Given that different transporters are required for bacterial growth and persistence under a variety of growth conditions, we conducted comparative analyse ... | 2011 | 22179038 |
| early diagnosis of relapse in borderline leprosy: two case reports. | two cases of relapse in borderline leprosy were reported. despite the late-reversal, reaction-like feature, the suspicion of relapse in both was based on persistent and slow-developing skin lesions and an absence of acute neuritis or reaction during one year of follow-up. the authors have considered this possible occurrence in lepromatous borderline-treated patients after their immune cellular restoration and defend that not all type 1 reactions would be an inflammatory answer to persistent myco ... | 2011 | 22183459 |
| a study of the distribution of mycobacterium leprae strains among cases in a rural and urban population of maharashtra, india. | the elimination of leprosy continues to be a challenge with several countries remaining endemic for the disease. india accounts for the highest number of cases and the identification of child cases indicates recent transmission. genetic markers like vntrs and snps have been identified to track transmission of the pathogen mycobacterium leprae. these were used to describe m. leprae strains detected in 48 skin biopsies of leprosy patients in the state of maharashtra in western india in a rural and ... | 2011 | 22205800 |
| evaluation of cellular phenotypes implicated in immunopathogenesis and monitoring immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in hiv/leprosy cases. | it is now evident that haart-associated immunological improvement often leads to a variety of new clinical manifestations, collectively termed immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, or iris. this phenomenon has already been described in cases of hiv coinfection with mycobacterium leprae, most of them belonging to the tuberculoid spectrum of leprosy disease, as observed in leprosy reversal reaction (rr). however, the events related to the pathogenesis of this association need to be clarifie ... | 2011 | 22205964 |
| polymorphisms of nod2 and the risk of tuberculosis: a validation study in the chinese population. | a genome-wide association study (gwas) of leprosy reported four specific genetic polymorphisms of nod2 that were associated with susceptibility to mycobacterium leprae in china. considering the role of nod2 in innate immune defence, we performed a study in a chinese population to determine whether the same snps of nod2 that were associated with disease caused by m. leprae were also associated with disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. we performed a frequency-matched case-control study i ... | 2012 | 22212192 |
| advances in proteomics of mycobacterium leprae. | although mycobacterium leprae was the first bacterial pathogen identified causing human disease, it remains one of the few that is non-cultivable. understanding the biology of m. leprae is one of the primary challenges in current leprosy research. genomics has been extremely valuable, nonetheless, functional proteins are ultimately responsible for controlling most aspects of cellular functions, which in turn could facilitate parasitizing the host. furthermore, bacterial proteins provide targets ... | 2012 | 22229831 |
| cojedes: a leprosy hyperendemic state. | background leprosy is a chronic infectious disease produced by mycobacterium leprae. in 1997 venezuela reached the goal of elimination of leprosy as a public health problem (according to the world health organization a prevalence rate of ≤1/10,000 inhabitants), but five states still had prevalence rates over that goal. for this study we selected cojedes state, where prevalence rates remain over the elimination goal. objective evaluate the real leprosy situation in high-prevalence areas of coje ... | 2012 | 22250629 |
| mutation analysis of mycobacterial rpob genes and rifampin resistance using recombinant mycobacterium smegmatis. | rifampin is a major drug used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis. the rifampin resistance of mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium tuberculosis results from a mutation in the rpob gene, encoding the β subunit of rna polymerase. a method for the molecular determination of rifampin resistance in these two mycobacteria would be clinically valuable, but the relationship between the mutations and susceptibility to rifampin must be clarified before its use. analyses of mutations responsible for rifamp ... | 2012 | 22252831 |
| lower numbers of natural killer t cells in hiv-1 and mycobacterium leprae co-infected patients. | natural killer t (nkt) cells are a heterogeneous population of lymphocytes that recognize antigens presented by cd1d and have attracted attention because of their potential role linking innate and adaptive immune responses. peripheral nkt cells display a memory-activated phenotype and can rapidly secrete large amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines upon antigenic activation. in this study, we evaluated nkt cells in the context of patients co-infected with hiv-1 and mycobacterium leprae. the volun ... | 2012 | 22269018 |
| identification of the leprosy agent mycobacterium lepromatosis in singapore. | background: a new leprosy-causing species, namely mycobacterium lepromatosis, was discovered recently to be the cause of diffuse lepromatous leprosy (dll) in mexico. it is unknown whether this organism exists beyond mexico. methods: we sought to determine the identity of the mycobacteria in the skin tissue of two patients from singapore who died of dll. dna was extracted from archived biopsy tissue, and conserved polymerase chain reaction primers were used to amplify and sequence two to three my ... | 2012 | 22270197 |
| snp genotypes of mycobacterium leprae isolates in thailand and their combination with rpot and ttc genotyping for analysis of leprosy distribution and transmission. | based on the discovery of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps) in mycobacterium leprae, it has been previously reported that there are four major snp types associated with different geographic regions around the world. another typing system for global differentiation of m. leprae is the analysis of the variable number of short tandem repeats within the rpot gene. to expand the analysis of geographic distribution of m. leprae, classified by snp and rpot gene polymorphisms, we studied ... | 2012 | 22274158 |
| microrna-21 targets the vitamin d-dependent antimicrobial pathway in leprosy. | leprosy provides a model to investigate mechanisms of immune regulation in humans, given that the disease forms a spectrum of clinical presentations that correlate with host immune responses. here we identified 13 mirnas that were differentially expressed in the lesions of subjects with progressive lepromatous (l-lep) versus the self-limited tuberculoid (t-lep) disease. bioinformatic analysis revealed a significant enrichment of l-lep-specific mirnas that preferentially target key immune genes d ... | 2012 | 22286305 |
| use of the polymerase chain reaction to detect mycobacterium leprae in urine. | leprosy is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) has been applied to detect m. leprae in different clinical samples and urine seems to be attractive for this purpose. pcr was used to improve the sensitivity for diagnosing leprosy by amplifying a 151-bp pcr fragment of the m. leprae pra gene (pcr-pra) in urine samples. seventy-three leprosy patients (39 males and 34 females, 14 to 78 years old) were selected for leprosy diagnosis at a reference ... | 2012 | 22286535 |
| recurrent disseminated intravascular coagulation caused by intermittent dosing of rifampin. | daily rifampin therapy is associated with minimal adverse effects, but administration on an intermittent or interrupted basis has been associated with severe immunoallergic reactions such as hemolytic anemia, acute renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. we describe a patient with mycobacterium leprae infection who experienced recurrent episodes of disseminated intravascular coagulation after intermittent exposures to rifampin, and review eight previously reported cases of rif ... | 2012 | 22302861 |
| relative entropy differences in bacterial chromosomes, plasmids, phages and genomic islands. | we sought to assess whether the concept of relative entropy (information capacity), could aid our understanding of the process of horizontal gene transfer in microbes. we analyzed the differences in information capacity between prokaryotic chromosomes, genomic islands (gi), phages, and plasmids. relative entropy was estimated using the kullback-leibler measure. | 2012 | 22325062 |
| ninjurin1 single nucleotide polymorphism and nerve damage in leprosy. | leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, can damage the peripheral nervous system and represents one of the leading causes of nontraumatic neuropathy in some developing countries. the ninjurin1 is a cell adhesion molecule that provides suitable substrates for repair of schwann cells after peripheral nerve injury. the single nucleotide polymorphism ninj1, is the result of a transversion of an adenine to a nucleotide polymorphic cytokine (a→c), responsible for an amino ... | 2012 | 22326538 |
| the role of intracellular receptor nods for cytokine production by macrophages infected with mycobacterium leprae. | the nucleotide-oligomerization domain (nod) proteins are members of the nod-like receptor (nlr) family, which are intracellular and cytoplasmic receptors. we analyzed the role of nods for cytokine production by macrophages infected with intracellular pathogen m. leprae, the causative agent of leprosy. production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as il-1β and tnf-α was inhibited in the presence of cytochalasin d, an agent blocking phagocytosis, suggesting that intracellular signaling was, partia ... | 2011 | 22346786 |
| [leprosy--today forgotten in croatia?]. | leprosy is an infectious skin disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, which predominantly affects the skin, peripheral nerves and mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract and oral cavity. in spite of today's efficient treatment, leprosy represents a public health problem in some countries of the world. it is estimated that 12 to 15 million patients are currently affected in the world. leprosy ravaged across europe, including croatia, for centuries, so this paper provides a few historical f ... | 2011 | 22359893 |
| peptides derived from mycobacterium leprae ml1601c discriminate between leprosy patients and healthy endemic controls. | the stable incidence of new leprosy cases suggests that transmission of infection continues despite worldwide implementation of mdt. thus, specific tools are needed to diagnose early stage mycobacterium leprae infection, the likely sources of transmission. m. leprae antigens that induce t-cell responses in m. leprae exposed and/or infected individuals thus are major targets for new diagnostic tools. previously, we showed that ml1601c was immunogenic in patients and healthy household contacts (hh ... | 2012 | 22363349 |
| orbital apex syndrome due to trigeminal perineural spread of sinonasal leprosy: a case report. | leprosy is a granulomatous disease primarily affecting the skin and peripheral nerves caused by mycobacterium leprae, but also significantly involving sinonasal cavities and cranial nerves. it continues to be a significant public health problem, and despite multidrug therapy, it can still cause significant morbidity. the awareness of cranial nerve, intracranial and orbital apex involvement as in our case is important for appropriate treatment measures. | 2012 | 22370135 |
| epidemiological, clinical, and operational aspects of leprosy patients assisted at a referral service in the state of maranhão, brazil. | leprosy is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. the aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and operational aspects of leprosy carriers. | 2012 | 22370835 |
| hansen's disease (leprosy): current and future pharmacotherapy and treatment of disease-related immunologic reactions. | hansen's disease, also known as leprosy, remains an important public health problem throughout the world, including north america. the causative microbe in hansen's disease is mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast organism that is difficult to grow in vitro. the nine-banded armadillo is the major animal reservoir in the united states. manifestations of disease vary based on host immune response and can range from tuberculoid to lepromatous leprosy (paucibacillary to multibacillary disease). hansen' ... | 2012 | 22392826 |
| potential selective inhibitors against rv0183 of mycobacterium tuberculosis targeting host lipid metabolism. | tuberculosis is the second leading infectious killer with 9 million new cases in 2009. extensive use of pathogen's lipid metabolism especially in utilizing the host lipids and virulence highlights the importance of exported lipid-catabolizing enzymes. current study aims to emphasize the importance of rv0183, an exported monoacylglycerol lipase, involved in metabolizing the host cell membrane lipids. sequence analysis and homology modeling shows rv0183 is highly conserved throughout mycobacterial ... | 2012 | 22405030 |
| histopathological examination of nerve samples from pure neural leprosy patients: obtaining maximum information to improve diagnostic efficiency. | nerve biopsy examination is an important auxiliary procedure for diagnosing pure neural leprosy (pnl). when acid-fast bacilli (afb) are not detected in the nerve sample, the value of other nonspecific histological alterations should be considered along with pertinent clinical, electroneuromyographical and laboratory data (the detection of mycobacterium leprae dna with polymerase chain reaction and the detection of serum anti-phenolic glycolipid 1 antibodies) to support a possible or probable pnl ... | 2012 | 22415265 |
| transforming growth factor β and apoptosis in leprosy skin lesions: possible relationship with the control of the tissue immune response in the mycobacterium leprae infection. | the course of leprosy depends of the host immune response which ranges from the lepromatous pole (ll) to the tuberculoid pole (tt). a comparative study was conducted in 60 patients with the ll and tt. the results showed a mean expression of tgf-β of 339 ± 99.4 cells/field for tt and of 519.2 ± 68.2 cells/field for ll. frequency of apoptosis was 6.3 ± 1.8 in tt and 14.0 ± 6.1 in ll. a correlation (p = 0.0251) between tgf-β and caspase-3 in the ll was found. this finding indicates a role of tgf-β ... | 2012 | 22429842 |
| the role of mycobacterium leprae phenolic glycolipid i (pgl-i) in serodiagnosis and in the pathogenesis of leprosy. | pgl-i (phenolic glycolipid i) emerged in the early 1980s on the one hand as part of intensive efforts to define the typing antigens of a host of mycobacterium spp. and also from characterisation of the lipids of skin biopsies from highly bacillary positive lepromatous leprosy patients. pgl-i, despite its extreme lipophilicity due to its inherent phthiocerol dimycocerosyl component, is highly antigenic evoking high titre igm antibodies in lepromatous leprosy patients, attributable largely to the ... | 2011 | 22439275 |
| anti-pgl-i seroepidemiology in leprosy cases: household contacts and school children from a hyperendemic municipality of the brazilian amazon. | we investigated the prevalence of antibodies against pgl-i in people affected by leprosy (pal) who were diagnosed and treated between 2004 and 2010, their household contacts (hc) and school children (sc) from a hyperendemic municipality in the brazilian amazon, and determined the prevalence of previously undiagnosed leprosy (ppul) among both the hc and sc. | 2011 | 22439276 |
| serological detection of leprosy employing mycobacterium leprae derived serine-rich 45 kda, esat-6, cfp-10 and pgl-i: a compilation of data from studies in indian populations. | this article is a compilation of our findings recorded in the recent past where we have investigated the serological performance of mycobacterium leprae antigens like-serine-rich 45 kda protein (45 kd), early secretary antigenic target-6 (esat-6), culture filtrate protein-10 (cfp-10) and phenolic glycolipid-i (pgl-i) for detection (employing antibody detecting elisa) of leprosy patients, particularly those belonging to the paucibacillary (pb) group. all of these antigens were capable of detectin ... | 2011 | 22439278 |
| postgenomic mycobacterium leprae antigens for cellular and serological diagnosis of m. leprae exposure, infection and leprosy disease. | due to changes in leprosy control programs and the special expertise required for diagnosis, the need for simple rapid diagnostic tests that could be applied in non-expert settings may now be greater than ever before. since the sequencing of the m. leprae genome, many research groups have investigated the potential of m. leprae antigens in either serologic or cell mediated assays. here we provide an overview of the nearly 200 recombinant single proteins that were investigated during the last dec ... | 2011 | 22439280 |
| cytokine responses to mycobacterium leprae unique proteins differentiate between mycobacterium leprae infected and naive armadillos. | new diagnostic tools for early detection of leprosy are necessary to help reduce its transmission and severity. m. leprae unique proteins have been used to assess differences in human t-cell responses in leprosy patients, household contacts and endemic controls. in this study, we examined the response of m. leprae-infected armadillos to a variety of m. leprae recombinant antigen candidates currently being examined for diagnostic efficacy in humans. among recently m. leprae infected armadillos, i ... | 2011 | 22439281 |
| immunogenicity of mycobacterium leprae unique antigens in leprosy endemic populations in asia and africa. | ongoing transmission of leprosy is evident from the stable disease incidence in high burden areas. tools for early detection of mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae) infection, particularly in sub-clinically infected individuals, are urgently required to reduce transmission. following the sequencing of the m. leprae genome, many m. leprae-unique candidate proteins have been identified, several of which have been tested for induction of m. leprae specific t cell responses in different leprosy endemic ... | 2011 | 22439283 |
| [lucio's phenomenon in a patient with leprosy on aruba]. | lucio's phenomenon is a rare leprosy reaction characterised by bizarrely-shaped, purpuric skin lesions and ulceration. it occurs in diffuse lepromatous leprosy and it is mainly reported in patients from mexico and the caribbean. | 2012 | 22475236 |
| multibacillary leprosy: erythema as the only clinical presentation. | leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by mycobacterium leprae, which primarily affects the skin and peripheral nerves. in this article, we present a 45-year-old man and a 39-year-old women who suffered from asymptomatic irregular erythemas on their trunk and extremities. since both patients denied the history of exposure to leprosy patients and were absent clinical signs of superficial sensation dysfunction and enlarged peripheral nerves, they were diagnosed of mycosis fungoides an ... | 2012 | 22490424 |
| drug and multidrug resistance among mycobacterium leprae isolates from brazilian relapsed leprosy patients. | skin biopsy samples from 145 relapse leprosy cases and from five different regions in brazil were submitted for sequence analysis of part of the genes associated with mycobacterium leprae drug resistance. single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps) in these genes were observed in m. leprae from 4 out of 92 cases with positive amplification (4.3%) and included a case with a mutation in rpob only, another sample with snps in both folp1 and rpob, and two cases showing mutations in folp1, rpob, and gyra, ... | 2012 | 22495562 |
| new biomarkers with relevance to leprosy diagnosis applicable in areas hyperendemic for leprosy. | leprosy is not eradicable with currently available diagnostics or interventions, as evidenced by its stable incidence. early diagnosis of mycobacterium leprae infection should therefore be emphasized in leprosy research. it remains challenging to develop tests based on immunological biomarkers that distinguish individuals controlling bacterial replication from those developing disease. to identify biomarkers for field-applicable diagnostics, we determined cytokines/chemokines induced by m. lepra ... | 2012 | 22504648 |
| gerhard hansen: discoverer of the organism of leprosy. | this year marks the hundredth anniversary of the death, on 12 february 1912, of the norwegian leprologist, gerhard hansen, who was the first to describe the mycobacterium leprae (hansen's bacillus). it was, in fact, only the second specific disease-causing organism to be discovered, the first being the bacillus of anthrax. | 2012 | 22504759 |
| investigation of association between susceptibility to leprosy and snps inside and near the bche gene of butyrylcholinesterase. | leprosy is a chronic disease caused by mycobacterium leprae and affects the skin and the peripheral nervous system. butyrylcholinesterase is coded by the bche gene, and the atypical allele (70g; rs1799807) has been investigated as a leprosy risk factor, with conflicting results. the present study estimated the frequencies of variants of rs1799807 and of five additional snps at the bche gene or near it: rs1126680, rs1803274, rs2863381, rs4440084, and rs4387996. a total of 167 patients and 150 hea ... | 2012 | 22523498 |
| esx-1-mediated translocation to the cytosol controls virulence of mycobacteria. | mycobacterium species, including mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, are among the most potent human bacterial pathogens. the discovery of cytosolic mycobacteria challenged the paradigm that these pathogens exclusively localize within the phagosome of host cells. as yet the biological relevance of mycobacterial translocation to the cytosol remained unclear. in this current study we used electron microscopy techniques to establish a clear link between translocation and mycobacter ... | 2012 | 22524898 |
| genetic diversity of toll-like receptors and immunity to m. leprae infection. | genetic association studies of leprosy cohorts across the world have identified numerous polymorphisms which alter susceptibility and outcome to infection with mycobacterium leprae. as expected, many of the polymorphisms reside within genes that encode components of the innate and adaptive immune system. despite the preponderance of these studies, our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie these genetic associations remains sparse. toll-like receptors (tlrs) have emerged as an essential f ... | 2012 | 22529866 |
| pathogen-specific epitopes as epidemiological tools for defining the magnitude of mycobacterium leprae transmission in areas endemic for leprosy. | during recent years, comparative genomic analysis has allowed the identification of mycobacterium leprae-specific genes with potential application for the diagnosis of leprosy. in a previous study, 58 synthetic peptides derived from these sequences were tested for their ability to induce production of ifn-γ in pbmc from endemic controls (ec) with unknown exposure to m. leprae, household contacts of leprosy patients and patients, indicating the potential of these synthetic peptides for the diagno ... | 2012 | 22545169 |
| essential role of hormone-sensitive lipase (hsl) in the maintenance of lipid storage in mycobacterium leprae-infected macrophages. | mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae), the causative agent of leprosy, parasitizes within the foamy or enlarged phagosome of macrophages where rich lipids accumulate. although the mechanisms for lipid accumulation in the phagosome have been clarified, it is still unclear how such large amounts of lipids escape degradation. to further explore underlying mechanisms involved in lipid catabolism in m. leprae-infected host cells, we examined the expression of hormone-sensitive lipase (hsl), a key enzyme i ... | 2012 | 22553833 |
| increased expression of regulatory t cells and down-regulatory molecules in lepromatous leprosy. | t regulatory cells (tregs) play an important role in the mechanism of host's failure to control pathogen dissemination in severe forms of different chronic granulomatous diseases, but their role in leprosy has not yet been elucidated; 28 newly diagnosed patients (16 patients with lepromatous leprosy and 12 patients with tuberculoid leprosy) and 6 healthy mycobacterium leprae-exposed individuals (contacts) were studied. tregs were quantified by flow cytometry (cd4+ cd25+ foxp3+) in peripheral blo ... | 2012 | 22556091 |
| interleukin-10-dependent down-regulation of interferon-gamma response to leishmania by mycobacterium leprae antigens during the clinical course of a coinfection. | we have described a case of a patient with an intriguing association of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis with lepromatous leprosy, two opposite polar forms of these spectral diseases. in the present follow-up study, we investigated the effect of the addition of mycobacterium leprae antigens on interferon-gamma (ifn-γ) production in leishmania antigen-stimulated cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) from this patient. for this purpose, pbmc cultures were stimulated with crude l. brazil ... | 2012 | 22570089 |
| social contact patterns and leprosy disease: a case-control study in bangladesh. | socioeconomic and culturally defined social contact patterns are expected to be an important determinant in the continuing transmission of mycobacterium leprae in leprosy-endemic areas. in a case-control study in two districts in bangladesh, we assessed the association between social contact patterns and the risk of acquiring clinical leprosy. social contacts of 90 recently diagnosed patients were compared to those of 199 controls. leprosy was associated with a more intensive social contact patt ... | 2013 | 22583511 |
| atypical hansen's disease presenting as florid verrucous plaques on the lower extremities: a case report. | verrucous leprosy is rare, with only 18 cases reported in the literature. visceral involvement is frequent but often overlooked, causing significant morbidity and mortality. | 2012 | 22607288 |
| cytoplasmic and extracellular expression of pharmaceutical-grade mycobacterial 65-kda heat shock protein in lactococcus lactis. | lactic acid bacteria (lab) are an attractive and safe alternative for the expression of heterologous proteins, as they are nonpathogenic and endotoxin-free organisms. lactococcus lactis, the lab model organism, has been extensively employed in the biotechnology field for large-scale production of heterologous proteins, and its use as a "cell factory" has been widely studied. we have been particularly interested in the use of l. lactis for production of heat shock proteins (hsps), which reportedl ... | 2012 | 22614283 |
| leprosy late-onset neuropathy: an uncommon presentation of leprosy. | clinical and pathological findings in leprosy are determined by the natural host immune response to mycobacterium leprae. we previously described cases of painful neuropathy (pn) with no concurrent cause apart from a past history of leprosy successfully treated. four leprosy previously treated patients who developed a pn years after multidrug therapy (mdt) are reported. the mean patient age was 52.75 years (47-64). the mean time interval of the recent neuropathy from the previous mdt was 19 year ... | 2012 | 22699535 |
| clinicohistopathological correlation in leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. it is classified into five groups based on clinical, histological, microbiological and immunological criteria (ridley and jopling classification) . however, a great variation has been observed in the interpretation of histopathological examination ok skin biopsies and clinical presentation of the disease. | 2011 | 22710532 |
| epidemiological profile of leprosy in the brazilian state of piauí between 2003 and 2008. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. it is considered a major public health issue in developing countries. | 2012 | 22714753 |
| quality of life of patients with paucibacillary leprosy. | leprosy, an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, can affect the skin and the peripheral nervous system and, depending on the level of involvement, it can lead to severe deformities. leprosy is classified into two major groups: paucibacillary (up to five lesions) and multibacillary (more than five lesions). the deformities that appear during the progress of the disease can affect the quality of life. | 2012 | 22714756 |
| mitochondrial dna copy number, but not haplogroup, confers a genetic susceptibility to leprosy in han chinese from southwest china. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, an unculturable pathogen with an exceptionally eroded genome. the high level of inactivation of gene function in m. leprae, including many genes in its metabolic pathways, has led to a dependence on host energy production and nutritional products. we hypothesized that host cellular powerhouse--the mitochondria--may affect host susceptibility to m. leprae and the onset of clinical leprosy, and this may be reflected by mitocho ... | 2012 | 22719964 |
| impact of pgl-i seropositivity on the protective effect of bcg vaccination among leprosy contacts: a cohort study. | contacts of leprosy patients are at increased risk of developing leprosy and need to be targeted for early diagnosis. seropositivity to the phenolic glycolipid i (pgl-i) antigen of mycobacterium leprae has been used to identify contacts who have an increased risk of developing leprosy. in the present study, we studied the effect of seropositivity in patient contacts, on the risk of developing leprosy, stratified by bacille calmette guerin (bcg) vaccination after index case diagnosis. | 2012 | 22724040 |
| [childhood memories…]. | leprosy is still a largely worldwide spread disease but rarely encountered in metropolitan france. its identification implies a multidisciplinary clinical, pathological and bacteriological diagnosis which is necessary to an efficient antibiotic treatment against a crippling disease which remains curable. here we report the case of a 24-year-old man who was showing an original both cutaneous and pulmonary presence of acido-alcooloresistant bacillus which have been identified as mycobacterium lepr ... | 2012 | 22748342 |
| lshgd: a database for human leprosy susceptible genes. | studies aiming to explore the involvement of host genetic factors to determine susceptibility to develop disease and individual's response to the infection with mycobacterium leprae have increased in recent years. to address this issue, we have developed a leprosy susceptible human gene database (lshgd) to integrate leprosy and human associated 45 genes by profound literature search. this will serve as a user-friendly and interactive platform to understand the involvement of human polymorphisms ... | 2012 | 22750101 |
| the antibiotic resistance arrow of time: efflux pump induction is a general first step in the evolution of mycobacterial drug resistance. | we hypothesize that low-level efflux pump expression is the first step in the development of high-level drug resistance in mycobacteria. we performed 28-day azithromycin dose-effect and dose-scheduling studies in our hollow-fiber model of disseminated mycobacterium avium-m. intracellulare complex. both microbial kill and resistance emergence were most closely linked to the within-macrophage area under the concentration-time curve (auc)/mic ratio. quantitative pcr revealed that subtherapeutic azi ... | 2012 | 22751536 |
| complex regional pain syndrome secondary to leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae affecting the skin and the nerves. complex regional pain syndrome (crps/sudeck's dystrophy) is a painful and disabling condition--a triad of autonomic, sensory, and motor symptoms disproportionate to the inciting event (inflammatory, infective, or traumatic nerve damage). | 2012 | 22757620 |
| the leprosy agents mycobacterium lepromatosis and mycobacterium leprae in mexico. | mycobacterium leprae was the only known cause of leprosy until 2008, when a new species, named mycobacterium lepromatosis, was found to cause diffuse lepromatous leprosy (dll), a unique form of leprosy endemic in mexico. | 2012 | 22788812 |
| [current status of leprosy]. | leprosy, known since antiquity, is a world infectious disease due to mycobacterium leprae. the transmission is probably via nasal droplets. the clinical range, from tuberculoid to lepromatous leprosy is a result of variation in the cell-mediated immune response, with a chronic inflammation in skin and peripheral nerves. diagnosis of leprosy is clinical with anesthetic skin lesion and skin smears detect acid fast bacilli. besides the classification of patients due to the ridley scale which is cli ... | 2012 | 22838263 |
| increased serum circulatory levels of interleukin 17f in type 1 reactions of leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae affecting mainly skin and peripheral nerves. acute inflammatory episodes in the borderline immunological spectrum of the disease cause severe nerve and tissue damage leading to deformities. finding of any serological marker for leprosy reactions will help in prediction of reactions and in early treatment intervention. the objective of this study was to measure the serum circulatory levels of interleukin 17f (il 17f) and to co ... | 2012 | 22847545 |