Publications

leprosy reactions in patients coinfected with hiv: clinical aspects and outcomes in two comparative cohorts in the amazon region, brazil.	leprosy, caused by mycobacterium leprae, can lead to scarring and deformities. human immunodeficiency virus (hiv), a lymphotropic virus with high rates of replication, leads to cell death in various stages of infection. these diseases have major social and quality of life costs, and although the relevance of their comorbidity is recognized, several aspects are still not fully understood.	2015	26029928
il-27 suppresses antimicrobial activity in human leprosy.	the mechanisms by which intracellular pathogens trigger immunosuppressive pathways are critical for understanding the pathogenesis of microbial infection. one pathway that inhibits host defense responses involves the induction of type i interferons and subsequently il-10, yet the mechanism by which type i ifn induces il-10 remains unclear. our studies of gene expression profiles derived from leprosy skin lesions suggested a link between il-27 and the ifn-β induced il-10 pathway. here, we demonst ...	2015	26030183
case of arthritis secondary to leprosy.	leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease, which is caused by mycobacterium leprae. high numbers of people are still affected by this disease in some of the developing countries however, it is rarely seen in non-endemic regions. cutaneous and neurological manifestations are the common and classical presentations of leprosy. musculoskeletal involvement is the third most common manifestation but is less frequently reported. joint involvement can present as acute symmetrical polyarthrit ...	2014	26034700
pure neuritic leprosy presenting as ulnar nerve neuropathy: a case report of electrodiagnostic, radiographic, and histopathological findings.	hansen's disease, or leprosy, is a chronic infectious disease with many manifestations. though still a major health concern and leading cause of peripheral neuropathy in the developing world, it is rare in the united states, with only about 150 cases reported each year. nevertheless, it is imperative that neurosurgeons consider it in the differential diagnosis of neuropathy. the causative organism is mycobacterium leprae, which infects and damages schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, ...	2015	26047418
a historical overview of leprosy epidemiology and control activities in amazonas, brazil.	leprosy is an ancient infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. according to comparative genomics studies, this disease originated in eastern africa or the near east and spread with successive human migrations. the europeans and north africans introduced leprosy into west africa and the americas within the past 500 years. in brazil, this disease arrived with the colonizers who disembarked at the first colonies, rio de janeiro, salvador and recife, at the end of the sixteenth century, af ...	2015	26061371
mycobacterial pathogenomics and evolution.	most mycobacterial species are harmless saprophytes, often found in aquatic environments. a few species seem to have evolved from this pool of environmental mycobacteria into major human pathogens, such as mycobacterium tuberculosis, the agent of tuberculosis, mycobacterium leprae, the leprosy bacillus, and mycobacterium ulcerans, the agent of buruli ulcer. while the pathogenicity of m. ulcerans relates to the acquisition of a large plasmid encoding a polyketide-derived toxin, the molecular mech ...	2014	26082120
the immunology and inflammatory responses of human melanocytes in infectious diseases.	melanin is a canonical and major defense molecule in invertebrates but its role in mammalian immunity remains unexplored. in contrast, several recent studies have highlighted the emerging innate immune activities of human melanin-producing cells which can sense and respond to bacterial and viral infections. indeed, the skin is a major portal of entry for pathogens such as arboviruses (chikungunya, dengue) and bacteria (mycobacterium leprae, leptospira spirochetes). melanocytes of the epidermis c ...	2015	26092350
histoid leprosy: review of the literature.	leprosy is a chronic granulomatous inflammation primarily of the peripheral nervous system, skin, and reticuloendothelial system caused by mycobacterium leprae. it presents clinically as an erythematous or hypopigmented anesthetic patch and a thickened and/or tender cutaneous nerve trunk. leprosy is also called hansen disease. leprosy is a great imitator of other skin diseases, and it can present with different morphological lesions, which is why an expert eye is needed to diagnose it. one of th ...	2015	26094829
role of subunit exchange and electrostatic interactions on the chaperone activity of mycobacterium leprae hsp18.	mycobacterium leprae hsp18, a major immunodominant antigen of m. leprae pathogen, is a small heat shock protein. previously, we reported that hsp18 is a molecular chaperone that prevents aggregation of different chemically and thermally stressed client proteins and assists refolding of denatured enzyme at normal temperature. we also demonstrated that it can efficiently prevent the thermal killing of e. coli at higher temperature. however, molecular mechanism behind the chaperone function of hsp1 ...	2015	26098662
it is time to review concepts on renal involvement in leprosy: pre- and post-treatment evaluation of 189 patients.	functional and morphological renal lesions have been widely described in leprosy for decades. nevertheless few studies have assessed renal function pre- and during treatment after the advent of multidrug therapy (mdt).	2015	26099294
use of approximate bayesian computation to assess and fit models of mycobacterium leprae to predict outcomes of the brazilian control program.	hansen's disease (leprosy) elimination has proven difficult in several countries, including brazil, and there is a need for a mathematical model that can predict control program efficacy. this study applied the approximate bayesian computation algorithm to fit 6 different proposed models to each of the 5 regions of brazil, then fitted hierarchical models based on the best-fit regional models to the entire country. the best model proposed for most regions was a simple model. posterior checks foun ...	2015	26107951
borderline tuberculoid leprosy in childhood onset systemic lupus erythematosus patient.	leprosy is a contagious and chronic systemic granulomatous disease caused by the bacillus mycobacterium leprae. to our knowledge, no case of leprosy in a childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (c-sle) patient has been reported. for a period of 31 years, 312 c-sle patients were followed at the pediatric rheumatology unit of our university hospital. one of them (0.3%) had tuberculoid leprosy skin lesions during the disease course and is here reported. a 10-year-old boy from northwest of braz ...	2015	26113359
chronicles of gerhard-henrik armauer hansen's life and work.	gerhard-henrik armauer hansen, a norwegian scientist, discovered mycobacterium leprae as the causative organism for leprosy, defying the hereditary affliction theory of the disease. he was born in bergen, norway in 1841 in a danish family. after acquiring his medical degree in 1866 from the university of oslo, he joined as an assistant physician in a leprosy hospital in bergen. in 1873, he published his report claiming leprosy to be an infectious disease with a description of the infectious mate ...	2017	26120145
study of oxidative stress in different forms of leprosy.	leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. india records the highest number of new leprosy cases in the world. oxidative stress may play a significant role in leprosy.	2017	26120177
the curse of the nine-banded armadillo: case report and review.	hansen's disease (leprosy) is an ancient condition characterized by hypopigmented patches that progress to become plaques with hypoesthesia. several case reports suggest that armadillos may be a source of mycobacterium leprae for clinical cases, and contact with armadillos has been shown to be a significant risk factor in several case-control studies. early diagnosis and treatment result in an excellent prognosis and provide an effective means to prevent complications of peripheral nerve injury, ...	2015	26126264
characterization of mycobacterium leprae genotypes in china--identification of a new polymorphism c251t in the 16s rrna gene.	leprosy continues to be prevalent in some mountainous regions of china, and genotypes of leprosy strains endemic to the country are not known. mycobacterium lepromatosis is a new species that was discovered in mexico in 2008, and it remains unclear whether this species exists in china. here, we conducted pcr- restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) analysis to classify genotypes of 85 dna samples collected from patients from 18 different provinces. all 171 dna samples from skin biopsies ...	2015	26196543
asymptomatic leprosy infection among blood donors may predict disease development and suggests a potential mode of transmission.	blood donor samples (1,007) were assessed for anti-phenolic glycolipid 1 (pgl-1) igm antibodies and mycobacterium leprae dna presence, which had 3.8% and 0.3% positivity, respectively. after a 5-year follow-up period, six individuals with positive markers developed leprosy, raising the hypothesis that asymptomatic infection among blood donors may be an undisclosed mode of leprosy transmission via transfusion.	2015	26202111
primary motor cortex representation of handgrip muscles in patients with leprosy.	leprosy is an endemic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae that predominantly attacks the skin and peripheral nerves, leading to progressive impairment of motor, sensory and autonomic function. little is known about how this peripheral neuropathy affects corticospinal excitability of handgrip muscles. our purpose was to explore the motor cortex organization after progressive peripheral nerve injury and upper-limb dysfunction induced by leprosy using noninvasive transcranial magnetic ...	2015	26203653
quantiferon-gold tuberculosis test cannot detect latent tuberculosis in patients with leprosy.	five of 10 paucibacillary leprosy patients were quantiferon gold (q-g) positive with negative chest x-rays. forty multibacillary leprosy patients were negative. reports have shown 100% cross-reactivity of esat6 and cfp10 between mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium tuberculosis. the q-g test cannot detect latent tuberculosis in patients with leprosy.	2015	26209684
activation and cytokine profile of monocyte derived dendritic cells in leprosy: in vitro stimulation by sonicated mycobacterium leprae induces decreased level of il-12p70 in lepromatous leprosy.	dendritic cells (dcs) play a pivotal role in the connection of innate and adaptive immunity of hosts to mycobacterial infection. studies on the interaction of monocyte-derived dcs (mo-dcs) using mycobacterium leprae in leprosy patients are rare. the present study demonstrated that the differentiation of mos to dcs was similar in all forms of leprosy compared to normal healthy individuals. in vitro stimulation of immature mo-dcs with sonicated m. leprae induced variable degrees of dc maturation a ...	2015	26222022
leprosy agents mycobacterium lepromatosis and mycobacterium leprae in mexico: a clarification.		2015	26224842
human-armadillo interaction in ceará, brazil: potential for transmission of mycobacterium leprae.	several factors suggest that armadillos present an important risk for human leprosy infection. this study uses semi-structured interviews to better illustrate how human interaction with armadillos may increase the risk of leprosy transmission. the participants were all residents of the state of ceará, in northeastern brazil, all acknowledged contact with armadillos either through hunting, through cooking, or through consumption of its meat. this study raises important issues about contact betwee ...	2015	26232656
alterations to antigen-specific immune responses before and after multidrug therapy of leprosy.	this study evaluated the impact of leprosy multidrug therapy (mdt) on cell-mediated immunity (cmi) and antibody responses at diagnosis in untreated paucibacillary (pb) (n=15) and multibacillary (mb) patients (n=15) using a panel of mycobacterium leprae recombinant antigens (rmls) (cmi: 46f, ml0276, ml2055, leprosy idri diagnostic 1 [lid-1], and ml2629, as negative control; serology: lid-1, 46f, 92f, and 33f, as negative control, and phenolic glycolipid i [pgl-i]) and at 2 time points after mdt ( ...	2015	26233487
synthesis and biological activity of alkynoic acids derivatives against mycobacteria.	2-alkynoic acids have bactericidal activity against mycobacterium smegmatis but their activity fall sharply as the length of the carbon chain increased. in this study, derivatives of 2-alkynoic acids were synthesized and tested against fast- and slow-growing mycobacteria. their activity was first evaluated in m. smegmatis against their parental 2-alkynoic acids, as well as isoniazid, a first-line antituberculosis drug. the introduction of additional unsaturation or heteroatoms into the carbon ch ...	2016	26256431
unique ttc repeat base pair loss mutation in cases of pure neural leprosy: a survival strategy of mycobacterium leprae?	genomic reduction helps obligate intracellular microbes to survive difficult host niches. adaptation of mycobacterium leprae in cases of pure neural leprosy (pnl) in the intracellular niche of peripheral nerves can be associated with some gene loss. recently, a stable but variable number of tandem repefzats (ttc) have been reported in strains of m. leprae. folp and rpob genes are the two common mutation sites which deal with the susceptibility of the bacteria to drugs.	2017	26288401
diffuse lepromatous leprosy due to mycobacterium lepromatosis in quintana roo, mexico.	a 43-year-old woman of mayan origin from quintana roo, mexico, was diagnosed with diffuse lepromatous leprosy. the etiologic bacillus was determined to be mycobacterium lepromatosis instead of mycobacterium leprae. this case likely represents the first report of this leprosy form and its agent in the southeastern tip of mexico.	2015	26311856
emergence of primary drug resistance to rifampicin in mycobacterium leprae strains from leprosy patients in india.		2015	26314915
laryngeal involvement causing dysphonia in a 29 year old nursing mother with lepromatous leprosy.	leprosy is a granulomatous disease that mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. it is caused by infection with mycobacterium leprae or mycobacterium lepromatosus. in most instances, diagnosis of leprosy can easily be made based on the clinical signs and symptoms. however, when patients present with atypical features, clinical diagnosis can be a challenge. we report a case of a nursing mother with lepromatous leprosy who presented with dysphonia and skin lesions initially thought to be a d ...	2015	26327983
new players in the same old game: disturbance of group 2 innate lymphoid cells in hiv-1 and mycobacterium leprae co-infected patients.	leprosy control is achieved through a fine-tuning of th1 and th2 immune response pattern balance. given the increasing epidemiological overlay of hiv and m. leprae infections, immune response in co-infected patients consists in an important contemporary issue. here we describe for the first time the innate lymphoid cells compartment in peripheral blood of leprosy and hiv/m. leprae co-infected patients, and show that co-infection increases group 2 innate lymphoid whilst decreasing group 1 innate ...	2015	26335023
inflammatory mediators of leprosy reactional episodes and dental infections: a systematic review.	reactional episodes in leprosy are a result of complex interactions between the immune system, mycobacterium leprae, and predisposing factors, including dental infections. to determine the main inflammatory mediators in the immunopathological process of dental infections and leprosy reactions, we conducted a systematic review of primary literature published between 1996 and 2013. a three-stage literature search was performed (stage i, "leprosy reactions" and "inflammatory mediators"; stage ii, " ...	2015	26339136
common variants of opa1 conferring genetic susceptibility to leprosy in han chinese from southwest china.	leprosy is an ancient chronic infection caused by mycobacterium leprae. onset of leprosy was highly affected by host nutritional condition and energy production, (partially) due to genomic loss and parasitic life style of m. leprae. the optic atrophy 1 (opa1) gene plays an essential role in mitochondria, which function in cellular energy supply and innate immunity.	2015	26360011
human genetic ancestral composition correlates with the origin of mycobacterium leprae strains in a leprosy endemic population.	recent reports have suggested that leprosy originated in africa, extended to asia and europe, and arrived in the americas during european colonization and the african slave trade. due to colonization, the contemporary colombian population is an admixture of native-american, european and african ancestries. because microorganisms are known to accompany humans during migrations, patterns of human migration can be traced by examining genomic changes in associated microbes. the current study analyze ...	2015	26360617
downregulation of phex in multibacillary leprosy patients: observational cross-sectional study.	peripheral nerve injury and bone lesions, well known leprosy complications, lead to deformities and incapacities. the phosphate-regulating gene with homologies to endopeptidase on the x chromosome (phex) encodes a homonymous protein (phex) implicated in bone metabolism. phex/phex alterations may result in bone and cartilage lesions. phex expression is downregulated by intracellular mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae) in cultures of human schwann cells and osteoblasts. m. leprae in vivo effect on ph ...	2015	26362198
influence of genetic ancestry on indel markers of nfkβ1, casp8, par1, il4 and cyp19a1 genes in leprosy patients.	leprosy is an insidious infectious disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacteria mycobacterium leprae, and host genetic factors can modulate the immune response and generate distinct categories of leprosy susceptibility that are also influenced by genetic ancestry.	2015	26367014
the essential role of cholesterol metabolism in the intracellular survival of mycobacterium leprae is not coupled to central carbon metabolism and energy production.	mycobacterium leprae induces the formation of lipid droplets, which are recruited to pathogen-containing phagosomes in infected macrophages and schwann cells. cholesterol is among the lipids with increased abundance in m. leprae-infected cells, and intracellular survival relies on cholesterol accumulation. the present study investigated the capacity of m. leprae to acquire and metabolize cholesterol. in silico analyses showed that oxidation of cholesterol to cholest-4-en-3-one (cholestenone), th ...	2015	26391209
b cells expressing il-10 mrna modulate memory t cells after dna-hsp65 immunization.	in dna vaccines, the gene of interest is cloned into a bacterial plasmid that is engineered to induce protein production for long periods in eukaryotic cells. previous research has shown that the intramuscular immunization of balb/c mice with a naked plasmid dna fragment encoding the mycobacterium leprae 65-kda heat-shock protein (pcdna3-hsp65) induces protection against m. tuberculosis challenge. a key stage in the protective immune response after immunization is the generation of memory t cell ...	2015	26397973
a study of liver function tests in leprosy.	leprosy is a chronic progressive granulomatous disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. hepatic involvement is seen in early stages of the disease. administration of the hepatotoxic drugs like rifampicin and dapsone may further deteriorate the liver function. the present study was undertaken to evaluate hepatic status by studying the various liver function tests in leprosy patients and compared to healthy controls. thirty untreated leprosy patients (18 multibacillary, 12 paucibacillary) with dura ...	2015	26411248
update on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of leprosy.	leprosy is an infectious disease that has now been reported for more than 2000 years. the leprosy elimination goal set by the world health organization (who), i.e. a global prevalence rate <1 patient per 10,000 population, was achieved in the year 2000, but more than 200,000 new case patients are still reported each year, particularly in india, brazil, and indonesia. leprosy is a specific infection: (i) it is a chronic infection primarily affecting the skin and peripheral nerves, (ii) mycobacter ...	2015	26428602
performance of pcr-reverse blot hybridization assay for detection of rifampicin-resistant mycobacterium leprae.	drug resistance in mycobacterium leprae is a significant problem in countries where leprosy is endemic. a sensitive, specific, and high-throughput reverse blot hybridization assay (reba) for the detection of genotypic resistance to rifampicin (rif) was designed and evaluated. it has been shown that resistance to rif in m. leprae involves mutations in the rpob gene encoding the -subunit of the rna polymerase. the pcr-reba simultaneously detects both 6 wild-type regions and 5 different mutations ( ...	2015	26428919
association of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon gamma gene polymorphisms and their plasma levels in leprosy, hiv and other peripheral neuropathies.	mycobacterium leprae and human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) are causative agents known to be involved in nerve damage in leprosy and hiv-peripheral neuropathy (hiv-pn) respectively. among other peripheral neuropathies the most common is diabetic neuropathy, which is metabolically induced. the proinflammatory cytokines tnf-α and ifn-γ have been implicated in the pathogenesis of peripheral neuropathy. the association between the plasma levels of these cytokines and their single nucleotide polymorp ...	2015	26431782
indigenous cases of leprosy (hansen's disease) in southern mississippi.	hansen's disease or leprosy is a chronic infection of the skin and peripheral nerves caused by mycobacterium leprae. in the u.s., leprosy is mainly reported in immigrants, but indigenous leprosy cases have been also reported in this country, especially in semitropical southern states (i.e., texas, louisiana). the objective of this series of cases is to describe indigenous leprosy cases reported in southern mississippi (ms) during the period 2012-2014. information was collected from medical recor ...	2015	26434167
new insights into the geographic distribution of mycobacterium leprae snp genotypes determined for isolates from leprosy cases diagnosed in metropolitan france and french territories.	between 20 and 30 bacteriologically confirmed cases of leprosy are diagnosed each year at the french national reference center for mycobacteria. patients are mainly immigrants from various endemic countries or living in french overseas territories. we aimed at expanding data regarding the geographical distribution of the snp genotypes of the m. leprae isolates from these patients.	2015	26441080
genotyping of mycobacterium leprae strains from a region of high endemic leprosy prevalence in india.	leprosy is still a major health problem in india which has the highest number of cases. multiple locus variable number of tandem repeat analysis (mlva) and single nucleotide polymorphism (snp) have been proposed as tools of strain typing for tracking the transmission of leprosy. however, empirical data for a defined population from scale and duration were lacking for studying the transmission chain of leprosy. seventy slit skin scrapings were collected from purulia (west bengal), miraj (maharash ...	2015	26444583
could mycobacterium leprae infection be an occupational disease? a survey in healthcare workers from an endemic area in the amazonian region.	a serologic survey was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of mycobacterium leprae infection among healthcare workers and associated factors. of 280 workers, 26 (9.3%) were positive using immunoglobulin m serology for pgl-i m. leprae antigen. exposure to leprosy patients in the workplace was significantly associated with seropositivity (p=.044).	2015	26456726
successive intramuscular boosting with ifn-alpha protects mycobacterium bovis bcg-vaccinated mice against m. lepraemurium infection.	leprosy caused by mycobacterium leprae primarily affects the skin and peripheral nerves. as a human infectious disease, it is still a significant health and economic burden on developing countries. although multidrug therapy is reducing the number of active cases to approximately 0.5 million, the number of cases per year is not declining. therefore, alternative host-directed strategies should be addressed to improve treatment efficacy and outcome. in this work, using murine leprosy as a model, a ...	2015	26484351
spatial heterogeneity in projected leprosy trends in india.	leprosy is caused by infection with mycobacterium leprae and is characterized by peripheral nerve damage and skin lesions. the disease is classified into paucibacillary (pb) and multibacillary (mb) leprosy. the 2012 london declaration formulated the following targets for leprosy control: (1) global interruption of transmission or elimination by 2020, and (2) reduction of grade-2 disabilities in newly detected cases to below 1 per million population at a global level by 2020. leprosy is treatable ...	2015	26490137
leprosy mimicking psoriasis.		2015	26500993
current knowledge on mycobacterium leprae transmission: a systematic literature review.	summary	2015	26502685
longitudinal immune profiles in type 1 leprosy reactions in bangladesh, brazil, ethiopia and nepal.	acute inflammatory reactions are a frequently occurring, tissue destructing phenomenon in infectious- as well as autoimmune diseases, providing clinical challenges for early diagnosis. in leprosy, an infectious disease initiated by mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae), these reactions represent the major cause of permanent neuropathy. however, laboratory tests for early diagnosis of reactional episodes which would significantly contribute to prevention of tissue damage are not yet available. althoug ...	2015	26510990
differential expression of solute carrier family 11a member 1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase 2 in skin biopsies from leprosy patients.	leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by mycobacterium leprae, an intracellular parasite that resides within macrophages and cannot be eliminated effectively. solute carrier family 11a member 1 (slc11a1) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos), both expressed in macrophages, play major roles in host defense against several intracellular pathogens. however, the roles of these molecules in natural infection with m. leprae remain unknown.	2015	26515838
rapid identification of mycobacterium leprae by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the heat shock protein 65 gene from skin specimens.		2015	26521798
validation of qpcr methods for the detection of mycobacterium in new world animal reservoirs.	zoonotic pathogens that cause leprosy (mycobacterium leprae) and tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, mtbc) continue to impact modern human populations. therefore, methods able to survey mycobacterial infection in potential animal hosts are necessary for proper evaluation of human exposure threats. here we tested for mycobacterial-specific single- and multi-copy loci using qpcr. in a trial study in which armadillos were artificially infected with m. leprae, these techniques were spe ...	2015	26571269
the complete genome sequence of the emerging pathogen mycobacterium haemophilum explains its unique culture requirements.	mycobacterium haemophilum is an emerging pathogen associated with a variety of clinical syndromes, most commonly skin infections in immunocompromised individuals. m. haemophilum exhibits a unique requirement for iron supplementation to support its growth in culture, but the basis for this property and how it may shape pathogenesis is unclear. using a combination of illumina, pacbio, and sanger sequencing, the complete genome sequence of m. haemophilum was determined. guided by this sequence, exp ...	2015	26578674
zoonotic leprosy in the southeastern united states.	nine-banded armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus) are naturally infected with mycobacterium leprae and have been implicated in zoonotic transmission of leprosy. early studies found this disease mainly in texas and louisiana, but armadillos in the southeastern united states appeared to be free of infection. we screened 645 armadillos from 8 locations in the southeastern united states not known to harbor enzootic leprosy for m. leprae dna and antibodies. we found m. leprae-infected armadillos at each ...	2015	26583204
presence of mycobacterium leprae dna and pgl-1 antigen in household contacts of leprosy patients from a hyperendemic area in brazil.	leprosy is a highly infectious disease endemic to underdeveloped countries. in maranhão state, northeastern brazil, the hyperendemic rate of 56.11 cases/100,000 inhabitants increased the necessity of better understanding the epidemiological profile of this population, particularly regarding efficient methods for evaluating individuals residing with diagnosed patients to understand disease transmission and the risk of infection. in this study, we examined the percentage of contacts with positive ...	2015	26600506
genetic variation in toll-interacting protein is associated with leprosy susceptibility and cutaneous expression of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist.	leprosy is a chronic disease characterized by skin and peripheral nerve pathology and immune responses that fail to control mycobacterium leprae. toll-interacting protein (tollip) regulates toll-like receptor (tlr) and interleukin 1 receptor (il-1r) signaling against mycobacteria. we analyzed messenger rna (mrna) expression of candidate immune genes in skin biopsy specimens from 85 individuals with leprosy. tollip mrna was highly and specifically correlated with il-1r antagonist (il-1ra). in a c ...	2016	26610735
correlation between nerve growth factor and tissue expression of il-17 in leprosy.	leprosy is a serious public health problem in peripheral and developing countries. leprosy is a chronic infectious-contagious disease caused by the intracellular, bacillus mycobacterium leprae, which causes tissue damage and demyelination of peripheral nerves. recent studies have demonstrated the participation of new subtype's cytokines profile in the inflammatory response of leprosy. since nerve functions are affected by inflammatory response during the course of leprosy, changes in the product ...	2016	26616164
a rapid screening assay for identifying mycobacteria targeted nanoparticle antibiotics.	antibiotic resistance is a serious problem. nanotechnology offers enormous potential in medicine, yet there is limited knowledge regarding the toxicity of nanoparticles (np) for mycobacterial species that cause serious human diseases (e.g. tuberculosis (tb) and leprosy). mycobacterial diseases are a major global health problem; tb caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis (mtb) kills up to 2 million people annually and there are over 200 000 leprosy cases each year caused by mycobacterium leprae (m. ...	2016	26618564
maldi imaging reveals lipid changes in the skin of leprosy patients before and after multidrug therapy (mdt).	leprosy still represents a health problem in several countries. affecting skin and peripheral nerves, it may lead to permanent disabilities. disturbances on skin lipid metabolism in leprosy were already observed; however, the localization and distribution of lipids could not be accessed. the role of lipids on infectious disease has been fully addressed only recently, as they directly influence immune response. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry provides a power ...	2015	26634971
genome-wide screening of mrna expression in leprosy patients.	leprosy, an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, affects millions of people worldwide. however, little is known regarding its molecular pathophysiological mechanisms. in this study, a comprehensive assessment of human mrna was performed on leprosy skin lesions by using dna chip microarrays, which included the entire spectrum of the disease along with its reactional states. sixty-six samples from leprotic lesions (10tt, 10bt, 10bb, 10bl, 4ll, 14r1, and 10r2) and nine skin biopsies f ...	2015	26635870
langerhans cells (cd1a and cd207), dermal dendrocytes (fxiiia) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (cd123) in skin lesions of leprosy patients.	the clinical course of infection with mycobacterium leprae varies widely and depends on the pattern of the host immune response. dendritic cells play an important role in the activation of the innate and adaptive immune system and seem to be essential for the development of the disease. to analyze the presence of epidermal dendritic cells (cd1a and cd207), plasmacytoid dendritic cells (cd123) and dermal dendrocytes (factor xiiia) in lesion fragments of leprosy patients, skin samples from 30 pati ...	2016	26639680
comparative evaluation of pcr amplification of rlep, 16s rrna, rpot and sod a gene targets for detection of m. leprae dna from clinical and environmental samples.	pcr assay is a highly sensitive, specific and reliable diagnostic tool for the identification of pathogens in many infectious diseases. genome sequencing mycobacterium leprae revealed several gene targets that could be used for the detection of dna from clinical and environmental samples. the pcr sensitivity of particular gene targets for specific clinical and environmental isolates has not yet been established. the present study was conducted to compare the sensitivity of rlep, rpot, sod a and ...	2015	26655199
polymerase chain reaction detection of leishmania dna in skin biopsy samples in sri lanka where the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis is leishmania donovani.	leishmania donovani is the known causative agent of both cutaneous (cl) and visceral leishmaniasis in sri lanka. cl is considered to be under-reported partly due to relatively poor sensitivity and specificity of microscopic diagnosis. we compared robustness of three previously described polymerase chain reaction (pcr) based methods to detect leishmania dna in 38 punch biopsy samples from patients presented with suspected lesions in 2010. both, leishmania genus-specific jw11/jw12 kdna and litsr/l ...	2015	26676321
viability of mycobacterium leprae in the environment and its role in leprosy dissemination.	leprosy, a chronic disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, is a public health concern in certain countries, including india. although the prevalence of the disease has fallen drastically over time, new cases continue to occur at nearly the same rate in many regions. several endemic pockets have been observed in india and elsewhere. the precise dynamics of leprosy transmission are still not clearly understood. both live bacilli as well as m. leprae dna have been detected in the soil and water of ...	2016	26728806
sensory cutaneous nerve fine-needle aspiration in hansen's disease: a retrospective analysis of our experience.	leprosy affects peripheral nerves. as mycobacterium leprae has unique tropism for schwann cells, thickened sensory cutaneous nerves provide an easy target for the detection of lepra bacilli and other changes associated with the disease.	2017	26729977
leprosy in denmark 1980-2010: a review of 15 cases.	leprosy, caused by mycobacterium leprae, is a chronic and progressive granulomatous disease affecting mainly the skin and the peripheral nervous system. if left unrecognized, the infection can lead to permanent nerve damage and disability. the clinical presentation depends on the immune response of the patient and can result in a wide spectrum of symptoms. leprosy is a rare encounter in scandinavia but remains endemic in some parts of the world, with some areas reporting an increasing incidence. ...	2016	26732436
epidemiological aspects of leprosy in juazeiro-ba, from 2002 to 2012.	leprosy is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, able to infect large numbers of people. this work is relevant to juazeiro-ba, a hyper-endemic area for leprosy, since unravel the behavior of the disease in the area, may suggest the decision making for sectors of surveillance, establishing strategies, organizing and evaluating programs and services.	2017	26734859
complement activation in leprosy: a retrospective study shows elevated circulating terminal complement complex in reactional leprosy.	mycobacterium leprae infection gives rise to the immunologically and histopathologically classified spectrum of leprosy. at present, several tools for the stratification of patients are based on acquired immunity markers. however, the role of innate immunity, particularly the complement system, is largely unexplored. the present retrospective study was undertaken to explore whether the systemic levels of complement activation components and regulators can stratify leprosy patients, particularly ...	2016	26749503
mycobacterium leprae-infected macrophages preferentially primed regulatory t cell responses and was associated with lepromatous leprosy.	the persistence of mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae) infection is largely dependent on the types of host immune responses being induced. macrophage, a crucial modulator of innate and adaptive immune responses, could be directly infected by m. leprae. we therefore postulated that m. leprae-infected macrophages might have altered immune functions.	2016	26751388
reciprocity between regulatory t cells and th17 cells: relevance to polarized immunity in leprosy.	t cell defect is a common feature in lepromatous or borderline lepromatous leprosy (ll/bl) patients in contrast to tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid type (tt/bt) patients. tuberculoid leprosy is characterized by strong th1-type cell response with localized lesions whereas lepromatous leprosy is hallmarked by its selective mycobacterium leprae specific t cell anergy leading to disseminated and progressive disease. foxp3+ regulatory t cells (treg) which are essential for maintaining peripheral ...	2016	26751584
expression of nucleotide-oligomerization domain (nod) and related genes in mouse tissues infected with mycobacterium leprae.	the nucleotide-oligomerization domain (nod) is an important molecule involved in host defense against bacterial infection. to study the role of nods in the host response to mycobacterium leprae, we measured the mrna levels of nods and related genes in infected mouse tissues. the mrna expression of nod1, nod2, caspase-1 and asc was increased in mouse footpads. whereas nod2 expression in macrophages was increased at 2 and 24 h post-infection with m. leprae, there was no expression of nod1 at these ...	2015	26770186
epidemiologic trends of leprosy for the 21st century.	major gaps still exist in the knowledge about leprosy, particularly with regard to how it spreads. leprosy epidemiology remains complicated due to the specific characteristics of mycobacterium leprae. to describe epidemiologic trends for the 21st century, the first part of this paper gives an overview of the epidemiology of leprosy, followed by past trends and the present situation of new-case detection as a proxy of the incidence. the third part, regarding predicted epidemiologic trends for the ...	2016	26773620
history of chemotherapy of leprosy.	chemotherapy of leprosy over the past 70 years has passed through several phases, from sulfones, to clofazimine, and to highly bactericidal drugs like rifampicin. the use particularly of the more potent drugs in effective combinations and the development of standard multidrug therapy regimens have made a huge difference in the successful treatment of leprosy as well as in reducing tremendously the prevalence of leprosy globally. a major contributing factor to development of better drugs and drug ...	2016	26773621
advances in leprosy immunology and the field application: a gap to bridge.	advances concerning the hosts' immune response to mycobacterium leprae infection have focused on elucidating the immune pathomechanisms involved, with the hope that predictive diagnostic and prognostic parameters (biomarkers) for field use would emerge; however, improvements in our understanding of the immunologic responses to this complex disease have, to date, somewhat failed to provide the effective and robust methods for improving its predictive diagnosis in the field situation, particularly ...	2016	26773628
leprous neuromyositis: a rare clinical entity and review of the literature.	mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy (hansen's disease), is a slow growing intracellular acid-fast bacillus that affects the skin, peripheral nerves and respiratory tract. in patients with suppressed cell-mediated immunity, the infiltration of the bacilli can produce disseminated illness such as leprous neuromyositis. we reported a case of 56-year-old gentleman presenting with pyrexia of unknown origin, asymmetric sensory motor axonal polyneuropathy and was on chronic exogenous s ...	2016	26776128
gene association with leprosy: a review of published data.	leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by an obligate intracellular bacterium known as mycobacterium leprae. exposure to the bacillus is necessary, but this alone does not mean an individual will develop clinical symptoms of the disease. in recent years, several genes have been associated with leprosy and the innate immune response pathways converge on the main hypothesis that genes are involved in the susceptibility for the disease in two distinct steps: for leprosy per se and in the de ...	2015	26793196
essentiality assessment of cysteinyl and lysyl-trna synthetases of mycobacterium smegmatis.	discovery of mupirocin, an antibiotic that targets isoleucyl-trna synthetase, established aminoacyl-trna synthetase as an attractive target for the discovery of novel antibacterial agents. despite a high degree of similarity between the bacterial and human aminoacyl-trna synthetases, the selectivity observed with mupirocin triggered the possibility of targeting other aminoacyl-trna synthetases as potential drug targets. these enzymes catalyse the condensation of a specific amino acid to its cogn ...	2016	26794499
integrative analyses of leprosy susceptibility genes indicate a common autoimmune profile.	leprosy is an ancient chronic infection in the skin and peripheral nerves caused by mycobacterium leprae. the development of leprosy depends on genetic background and the immune status of the host. however, there is no systematic view focusing on the biological pathways, interaction networks and overall expression pattern of leprosy-related immune and genetic factors.	2016	26805555
the demographic and clinical characteristics of leprosy in saudi arabia.	leprosy is a chronic disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. although the occurrence of leprosy has declined in saudi arabia, it has not yet been eradicated. to our knowledge, this descriptive retrospective study is the first to assess the clinical presentation of leprosy at the time of diagnosis in saudi arabia. all study subjects were leprosy patients admitted to ibn sina hospital, the only referral hospital for leprosy in saudi arabia, between january 2000 and may 2012. a total of 164 subject ...	2017	26810580
the -308 bp tnf gene polymorphism influences tumor necrosis factor expression in leprosy patients in bahia state, brazil.	leprosy or hansen's disease is a debilitating chronic granulomatous disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, with high incidence and prevalence in brazil. the -308 bp g/a single nucleotide polymorphism (snp rs1800629) in the tumor necrosis factor (tnf) gene promoter is a proposed risk factor for leprosy. in brazil, northern india, egypt and nepal, the common g allele was associated with leprosy. in eastern india, thailand and malawi the minor a allele was the risk factor. allele a was previously ...	2016	26829382
a missense lrrk2 variant is a risk factor for excessive inflammatory responses in leprosy.	depending on the epidemiological setting, a variable proportion of leprosy patients will suffer from excessive pro-inflammatory responses, termed type-1 reactions (t1r). the lrrk2 gene encodes a multi-functional protein that has been shown to modulate pro-inflammatory responses. variants near the lrrk2 gene have been associated with leprosy in some but not in other studies. we hypothesized that lrrk2 was a t1r susceptibility gene and that inconsistent association results might reflect different ...	2016	26844546
leveraging advances in tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment to address nontuberculous mycobacterial disease.	the nontuberculous mycobacteria (ntm), defined as any mycobacterial pathogen other than mycobacterium tuberculosis or mycobacterium leprae, are a diverse group of pathogens that collectively cause a substantive but often unappreciated worldwide burden of illness. although ntms may cause illness similar to m. tuberculosis, these pathogens generally do not respond to classic tuberculosis (tb) drug regimens, resulting in misdiagnosis and poor treatment, particularly in resource-poor settings. altho ...	2016	26886068
inflammatory cytokines are involved in focal demyelination in leprosy neuritis.	mycobacterium leprae (ml) infection causes nerve damage that often leads to permanent loss of cutaneous sensitivity and limb deformities, but understanding of the pathogenesis of leprous neuropathy that would lead to more effective treatments is incomplete. we studied reactional leprosy patients with (n = 9) and without (n = 8) acute neuritis. nerve conduction studies over the course of the reactional episode showed the findings of demyelination in all patients with neuritis. evaluation of patie ...	2016	26888306
development of type 2, but not type 1, leprosy reactions is associated with a severe reduction of circulating and in situ regulatory t-cells.	leprosy is frequently complicated by the appearance of reactions that are difficult to treat and are the main cause of sequelae. we speculated that disturbances in regulatory t-cells (tregs) could play a role in leprosy reactions. we determined the frequency of circulating tregs in patients with type 1 reaction (t1r) and type 2 reaction (t2r). the in situ frequency of tregs and interleukin (il)-17, il-6, and transforming growth factor beta (tgf)-β-expressing cells was also determined. t2r patien ...	2016	26903606
exploratory urinary metabolomics of type 1 leprosy reactions.	leprosy is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae that affects the skin and nerves. although curable with multidrug therapy, leprosy is complicated by acute inflammatory episodes called reactions, which are the major causes of irreversible neuropathy in leprosy that occur before, during, and even after treatment. early diagnosis and prompt treatment of reactions reduces the risk of permanent disability.	2016	26923082
mycobacterial disease in patients with chronic granulomatous disease: a retrospective analysis of 71 cases.	chronic granulomatous disease (cgd) is a rare primary immunodeficiency caused by inborn errors of the phagocyte nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase complex. from the first year of life onward, most affected patients display multiple, severe, and recurrent infections caused by bacteria and fungi. mycobacterial infections have also been reported in some patients.	2016	26936803
comparison of four dna extraction methods for the detection of mycobacterium leprae from ziehl-neelsen-stained microscopic slides.	the diagnosis of leprosy has been a challenge due to the low sensibility of the conventional methods and the impossibility of culturing the causative organism. in this study, four methods for mycobacterium leprae nucleic-acid extraction from ziehl-neelsen-stained slides (zns slides) were compared: phenol/chloroform, chelex 100 resin, and two commercial kits (wizard genomic dna purification kit and qiaamp dna mini kit).	2015	26964809
[a strange facial mutilation].		2016	26969390
mycobacterium leprae alters classical activation of human monocytes in vitro.	macrophages play a central role in the pathogenesis of leprosy, caused by mycobacterium leprae. the polarized clinical presentations in leprosy are associated with differential immune activation. in tuberculoid leprosy, macrophages show a classical activation phenotype (m1), while macrophages in lepromatous disease display characteristics of alternative activation (m2). bacille calmette-guérin (bcg) vaccination, which protects against leprosy, can promote sustained changes in monocyte response t ...	2016	26973434
mycobacterium leprae is usually positive to periodic acid-schiff and grocott stains.		2016	26999344
clinical pearls: leprosy reactions.	leprosy reactions are acute inflammatory episodes that occur in the setting of mycobacterium leprae infection. precipitants of reactions can be pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic. both type 1 and type 2 reactions typically occur before and during leprosy treatment but may also occur after treatment has been completed. reactions cause morbidity due to nerve damage, and prompt corticosteroid therapy is warranted to minimize nerve damage due to reactions.	2016	27060010
a quantitative approach to analyzing genome reductive evolution using protein-protein interaction networks: a case study of mycobacterium leprae.	the advance in high-throughput sequencing technologies has yielded complete genome sequences of several organisms, including complete bacterial genomes. the growing number of these available sequenced genomes has enabled analyses of their dynamics, as well as the molecular and evolutionary processes which these organisms are under. comparative genomics of different bacterial genomes have highlighted their genome size and gene content in association with lifestyles and adaptation to various envir ...	2016	27066064
inoculation site leprosy in a tattoo as a paradoxical reaction following tuberculosis treatment.	we present a patient who developed inoculation site leprosy in a tattoo, which was confirmed by mycobacterium leprae dna sequencing of a polymerase chain reaction product from a skin biopsy. his leprosy became manifest as a paradoxical reaction only after 8 weeks of treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis.	2016	27084829
leprosy as a model to understand cancer immunosurveillance and t cell anergy.	leprosy is a disease caused by mycobacterium leprae that presents on a spectrum of both clinical manifestations and t cell response. on one end of this spectrum, tuberculoid leprosy is a well-controlled disease, characterized by a cell-mediated immunity and immunosurveillance. on the opposite end of the spectrum, lepromatous leprosy is characterized by m. leprae proliferation and t cell anergy. similar to progressive tumor cells, m. leprae escapes immunosurveillance in more severe forms of lepro ...	2016	27106673
combination chemoprophylaxis and immunoprophylaxis in reducing the incidence of leprosy.	leprosy is a complex infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae that is a leading cause of nontraumatic peripheral neuropathy. current control strategies, with a goal of early diagnosis and treatment in the form of multidrug therapy, have maintained new case reports at ~225,000 per year. diagnostic capabilities are limited and even with revisions to multidrug therapy regimen, treatment can still require up to a year of daily drug intake. although alternate chemotherapies or adjunct immune ...	2016	27175099
f420h2 is required for phthiocerol dimycocerosate synthesis in mycobacteria.	phthiocerol dimycocerosates (pdim) are a group of cell surface-associated apolar lipids of mycobacterium tuberculosis and closely related mycobacteria, such as mycobacterium bovis and mycobacterium leprae a characteristic methoxy group of these lipids is generated from the methylation of a hydroxyl group of the direct precursors, the phthiotriols. the precursors arise from the reduction of phthiodiolones, the keto intermediates, by a ketoreductase. the putative phthiodiolone ketoreductase (pkr) ...	2016	27185825
sting-dependent 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase-like production is required for intracellular mycobacterium leprae survival.	cytosolic detection of nucleic acids elicits a type i interferon (ifn) response and plays a critical role in host defense against intracellular pathogens. herein, a global gene expression profile of mycobacterium leprae-infected primary human schwann cells identified the genes differentially expressed in the type i ifn pathway. among them, the gene encoding 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase-like (oasl) underwent the greatest upregulation and was also shown to be upregulated in m. leprae-infected h ...	2016	27190175
leprosy among children under 15 years of age: literature review.	leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, representing a public health issue in some countries. though more prevalent in adults, the detection of new cases in children under 15 years of age reveals an active circulation of bacillus, continued transmission and lack of disease control by the health system, as well as aiding in the monitoring of the endemic. among patients under 15 years of age, the most affected age group is children between 10 and 14 years of age, al ...	2016	27192519
patterns of mycobacterium leprae infection in wild nine-banded armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus) in mississippi, usa.	the nine-banded armadillo ( dasypus novemcinctus ) is the only known nonhuman reservoir of mycobacterium leprae , the causative agent of hansen's disease or leprosy. we conducted a 6-yr study on a wild population of armadillos in western mississippi that was exposed to m. leprae to evaluate the importance of demographic and spatial risk factors on individual antibody status. we found that spatially derived covariates were not predictive of antibody status. furthermore, analyses revealed no evide ...	2016	27195687
experimental infection of rhodnius prolixus (hemiptera, triatominae) with mycobacterium leprae indicates potential for leprosy transmission.	leprosy is a chronic dermato-neurological disease caused by infection with mycobacterium leprae. in 2013 almost 200,000 new cases of leprosy were detected around the world. since the first symptoms take from years to decades to appear, the total number of asymptomatic patients is impossible to predict. although leprosy is one of the oldest records of human disease, the mechanisms involved with its transmission and epidemiology are still not completely understood. in the present work, we experime ...	2016	27203082