Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| [late-occurring cutaneous vasculitis after successful treatment of diffuse lepromatous leprosy: lucio's phenomenon]. | o lucio's phenomenon is an uncommon type 2 reactional state occurring exclusively in patients with diffuse lepromatous leprosy (lucio-latapi leprosy). previous case reports have been most frequent in central america and rare in asia and africa. lucio's phenomenon is characterized by necrotic ulcerations of the skin preferentially on the lower extremities usually in association with ongoing lucio lepromatosis. the purpose of this report is to describe an unusual case of lucio's phenomenon occurri ... | 2007 | 17506277 |
| detection of mycobacterium leprae infection in wild nine-banded armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus) using the rapid ml flow test. | mycobaterium leprae infection was investigated in armadillos from the state of espírito santo, brazil. the ml flow test was performed on 37 nine-banded armadillos and positive results were found in 11 (29.7%). the ml flow test may be used to identify possible sources of mycobaterium leprae among wild armadillos. | 2007 | 17486263 |
| clinical diagnosis of leprosy cases. | the principle of leprosy control is based on secondary prevention with early detection of all cases and treatment with multidrug therapy. eradication of leprosy warrants detection of all cases. hence diagnosis of leprosy is of paramount importance to eradicate the cases. history taking gives all important information about the patient. presenting complaint and contacts in family give useful guidelines to clinicians to arrive at the diagnosis. the objective of clinical examination is to elicit ca ... | 2006 | 17474283 |
| [contributions of the netherlands and its colonies to the knowledge of the cause of leprosy in the 19th century]. | to determine the dutch contributions to the formulation of the concept that leprosy is an infectious disease. | 2007 | 17469325 |
| the proteasome function is required for mycobacterium leprae-induced apoptosis and cytokine secretion. | previous studies have demonstrated the importance of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in the immune response to bacterial pathogens. to investigate the role of this system in the context of leprosy, mycobacterium leprae-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) were treated with the proteasome inhibitor mg132 to assess the levels of apoptosis and cytokine secretion. the results showed that the inhibition of proteasome activity significantly reduced m. leprae-mediated cell death. in ad ... | 2007 | 17462745 |
| leprosy and tuberculosis: an insight-review. | a quick glance at this review article provides an insight into the common and different features of m. leprae and m. tuberculosis and the diseases caused by these organisms. table i provides the popular names, history, stigma, description of the disease, clinical features, classification and the types of disease manifestations, who are affected, signs and symptoms, clinical examination, treatment regimens, reactions, relapses, immunity, infectiousness, risk groups, deformities, sequelae, transmi ... | 2007 | 17453929 |
| *no dissociation represents the rate limiting step for o2-mediated oxidation of ferrous nitrosylated mycobacterium leprae truncated hemoglobin o. | mycobacterium leprae truncated hemoglobin o (trhbo) protects from nitrosative stress and sustains mycobacterial respiration. here, kinetics of m. leprae trhbo(ii)-no denitrosylation and of o(2)-mediated oxidation of m. leprae trhbo(ii)-no are reported. values of the first-order rate constant for *no dissociation from m. leprae trhbo(ii)-no (k(off)) and of the first-order rate constant for o(2)-mediated oxidation of m. leprae trhbo(ii)-no (h) are 1.3 x 10(-4) s(-1) and 1.2 x 10(-4) s(-1), respect ... | 2007 | 17451651 |
| performance of recombinant esat-6 antigen (ml0049) for detection of leprosy patients. | the study was aimed to evaluate the mycobacterium leprae recombinant early secreted antigenic target-6 (resat-6) for its serological performance in leprosy patients. | 2007 | 17451520 |
| semi-quantitative detection of mycobacterium leprae antigens in skin scrapings: suitability as a laboratory aid for field diagnosis of leprosy. | we describe here a method, potentially suitable for field applications, for semi-quantitative detection of mycobacterium leprae antigens in skin scrapings, which are taken normally for smear microscopy. thirty acid-fast bacilli-negative paucibacillary (pb) leprosy patients comprised the main study group; eight acid-fast bacilli-positive multibacillary (mb) patients and five healthy laboratory workers served as controls. samples in saline were spotted on nitrocellulose paper and probed with mycob ... | 2007 | 17445850 |
| leprosy-specific b-cells within cellular infiltrates in active leprosy lesions. | leprosy is a spectral disease with polar lepromatous and tuberculoid forms correlating with enhanced humoral and cell-mediated immunity, respectively, against mycobacterium leprae and the borderline forms, borderline lepromatous, midborderline, and borderline tuberculoid showing in-between clinical and immunological characteristics. histopathologically, the cellular infiltrates of leprosy lesions show predominantly the presence of interacting t-cells and antigen presenting cells like macrophages ... | 2007 | 17442378 |
| identification and distribution of mycobacterium leprae genotypes in a region of high leprosy prevalence in china: a 3-year molecular epidemiological study. | multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (vntr) analysis (mlva) has been proposed as a means of strain typing for tracking the transmission of leprosy. however, empirical data for a defined population are lacking. to this end, a study was initiated to assess the diversity and distribution of prevalent mycobacterium leprae strains in qiubei county, yunnan province, people's republic of china, where the annual detection rate of leprosy is 10-fold higher than the national average rate. sixty-ei ... | 2007 | 17428944 |
| feline leprosy: a review of forty-four cases from western canada. | forty-four files of cats diagnosed as having feline leprosy were reviewed. all except one were from along the pacific coast in the province of british columbia. the majority of cats were between one and three years of age and there was an increase in the number of diagnosis during the winter months.two types of granulomatous responses similar to the tuberculoid and lepromatous phases of human leprosy were recognized. in spite of the overall similarities in the cellular response to human leprosy ... | 1982 | 17422188 |
| mycobacterium leprae in neurons of the medulla oblongata and spinal cord in leprosy. | peripheral neuropathy has been extensively studied in leprosy, a chronic disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, but the central nervous system (cns) is thought to be free from bacilli. involvement of the cns was explored in autopsy cases of clinically cured lepromatous leprosy (n = 67) and in non-leprosy cases (n = 15). paraffin sections of the medulla oblongata and spinal cord were subjected to hematoxylin and eosin staining, fite acid-fast staining, and anti-phenolic glycolipid-i (pgl-i) immu ... | 2007 | 17413319 |
| hla-drb1*04 and drb1*10 are associated with resistance and susceptibility, respectively, in brazilian and vietnamese leprosy patients. | the host genetic background has been considered one of the factors that influence leprosy outcome, a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. genome scans demonstrated that the 6p21 region is associated with leprosy and a substantial number of population-based studies analyzing human leukocyte antigen (hla) class ii loci suggested association of hla-dr with leprosy. however, some studies lacked robustness as they had limited power. indeed, experimental designs require increased ... | 2007 | 17396103 |
| lepromatous leprosy of histoid type. | histoid leprosy is a variant of lepromatous leprosy, which develops as a result of resistance to dapsone monotherapy. here we report two cases of lepromatous leprosy of histoid type, one with typical and another with atypical presentations. | 2007 | 17377360 |
| detection of m. leprae by reverse transcription- pcr in biopsy specimens from leprosy cases: a preliminary study. | a reverse transcription (rt)-pcr assay targeting 16s rrna of mycobacterium leprae has been used to detect m.leprae specific nucleic acids. this study has been initiated to gain experience about detection of rna from seven biopsy specimens by rt-pcr assay using species- specific primers described earlier. these biopsy specimens were from clinically confirmed and untreated leprosy cases belonging to bb and bl types. the earlier reported method was established in our laboratory. 171 bp fragment by ... | 2006 | 17373361 |
| detection of mycobacterium leprae dna from soil samples by pcr targeting rlep sequences. | despite near elimination of leprosy as a public health problem, several problems in leprosy still remain. these include early detection, determining efficacy of the treatment and differentiating relapses from re-infection. these aspects have important impact on the patients undergoing treatment and also have a bearing on understanding transmission dynamics in the community. while early diagnosis and management do not need major technological inputs, various reports have suggested that m. leprae ... | 2006 | 17373359 |
| identification of novel hsp65 rflps for mycobacterium leprae. | leprosy or hansen's disease is a chronic infectious disease caused by an acid-fast bacillus, mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae). the bacilli proliferate in macrophages infiltrating the skin and gain entry to the dermal nerves via the laminar surface of schwann cells where they replicate. after entry, the schwann cells proliferate and then die. conclusive identification of m. leprae dna in a sample can be obtained by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (pcr-rflp) for ... | 2007 | 17373188 |
| leprosy. | leprosy is a granulomatous disease affecting the skin and nerves caused by mycobacterium leprae. it continues to be a significant public health problem. despite multidrug therapy, immunologic reactions continue to occur, leading to disability and deformity due to neuropathy. it is important that dermatologists are aware of the neurologic as well as the skin manifestations of the condition so that nerve involvement can be identified and treated rapidly. | 2007 | 17350495 |
| regulation of human t-cell homing receptor expression in cutaneous bacterial infection. | we investigated the regulation of t-cell homing receptors in infectious disease by evaluating the cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (cla) in human leprosy. we found that cla-positive cells were enriched in the infectious lesions associated with restricting the growth of the pathogen mycobacterium leprae, as assessed by the clinical course of infection. moreover, cla expression on t cells isolated from the peripheral blood of antigen-responsive tuberculoid leprosy patients increased in the presence of ... | 2007 | 17343614 |
| indeterminate leprosy in an infant. | an infant, 8 months old having histologically confirmed indeterminate leprosy is reported. the source of infection and possible mode of transmission are discussed. | 2006 | 17343225 |
| isolation of mycobacterium leprae from untreated borderline tuberculoid, mid-borderline and indeterminate cases using the mouse foot pad technique--a study of 209 cases. | using the mouse foot pad (mfp) system, isolation of mycobacterium leprae was attempted in 209 skin biopsies obtained from 114 borderline tuberculoid (bt), 62 mid borderline (bb) and 33 indeterminate (1) untreated cases. unequivocal growth in the foot pads of mice was seen in 100 (47.8%) cases. of these 100 cases that showed growth in the mouse foot pad system, in 20 cases acid fast bacilli (afb) were detected in small numbers (1 + ) in either smear or homogenate. the remaining 80 (42%) cases wer ... | 2006 | 17343223 |
| association between anti-pgl-i igm and clinical and demographic parameters in leprosy. | to determine the risk factors and clinical significance of anti-pgl-i seropositivity. | 2006 | 17343221 |
| current epidemiology of leprosy in india. | 2006 | 17343215 | |
| localization of coro1a in the macrophages containing mycobacterium leprae. | mycobacteria have acquired an intracellular lifestyle within the macrophage, which is best exemplified by the enlarged infected histiocytes seen in lepromatous leprosy. to survive within the cell, mycobacteria must escape intracellular bactericidal mechanisms. in a study of mycobacterium bovis bacille calmette-guérin (m. bovis bcg) infection, it was shown that the host protein, coro1a, also known as tryptophan aspartate-containing coat protein (taco), accumulates on the phagosomal membrane, resu ... | 2006 | 17327897 |
| expression and purification of an active form of the mycobacterium leprae dna gyrase and its inhibition by quinolones. | mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, is noncultivable in vitro; therefore, evaluation of antibiotic activity against m. leprae relies mainly upon the mouse footpad system, which requires at least 12 months before the results become available. we have developed an in vitro assay for studying the activities of quinolones against the dna gyrase of m. leprae. we overexpressed in escherichia coli the m. leprae gyra and gyrb subunits separately as his-tagged proteins by using a pet pl ... | 2007 | 17325221 |
| recombinant mycobacterium leprae protein associated with entry into mammalian cells of respiratory and skin components. | the transmission of mycobacterium leprae, the causative pathogen of leprosy, has been postulated to occur mainly through upper respiratory route rather than skin-to-skin contact via minor injuries. the m. leprae genome contains mce1a gene, which encodes a putative mammalian cell entry protein. however, to date, there have been no functional analyses of the m. leprae mce1a gene product. | 2007 | 17317107 |
| [leprosy and medicine ii--progress and establishment of an absolute isolation policy]. | the leprosy policy of japan began from when the government enacted "law no. 11 (the leprosy prevention act)" in 1907 (meiji 40) and several leprosy sanatoriums were built to receive previously homeless patients. then, with the rise of totalitarianism, the isolation policy of japan gained national support under the slogan "patient relief", which would become a major factor behind the enactment of "leprosy prevention law" in 1931 (showa 6) by which the leprosy policy was changed to one of absolute ... | 2007 | 17315749 |
| [in-vitro and in-vivo activities of moxifloxacin and garenoxacin against mycobacterium leprae]. | moxifloxacin(mflx) and garenoxacin(grnx), new synthetic antibacterial agents, were assessed for in vitro anti-m. leprae activities. the anti-bacterial activities of these two drugs were compared to those of sparfloxacin (spfx), gatifloxacin(gflx), levofloxacin(lvfx) and rifampicin (rfp). the anti-m leprae activity obtained by buddemeyer system was stronger in order of rfp, mflx, spfx, gflx and grnx and lvfx. the anti-m. leprae activity of mflx or grnx was also examined by the nude mouse footpad ... | 2007 | 17315747 |
| low temperature incubation improves the performance of anti-phenolic glycolipid-i antibody detecting elisa in leprosy patients. | 2007 | 17314378 | |
| the reductase that catalyzes mycolic motif synthesis is required for efficient attachment of mycolic acids to arabinogalactan. | mycolic acids are essential components of the cell walls of bacteria belonging to the suborder corynebacterineae, including the important human pathogens mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae. mycolic acid biosynthesis is complex and the target of several frontline antimycobacterial drugs. the condensation of two fatty acids to form a 2-alkyl-3-keto mycolate precursor and the subsequent reduction of this precursor represent two key and highly conserved steps in this pathway. althou ... | 2007 | 17308303 |
| expression of b7-1 costimulatory molecules in patients with multibacillary leprosy and reactional states. | the expression of b7 as a costimulatory molecule on the surface of antigen-presenting cells such as macrophages and on dendritic cells characterizes the efficiency of the cell-mediated immune response. | 2007 | 17305909 |
| leprosy in a pregnant woman. | herein, we describe a case of leprosy in a 29-year-old pregnant southeast-asian woman who presented with joint pain and multiple disseminated erythematous macules, papules and plaques. histological examination and stains for acid-fast bacilli from skin biopsies substantiated the clinical suspicion of a cutaneous mycobacterial disease and both should be performed in all patients with unidentified skin lesions. the definitive laboratory diagnosis of leprosy was achieved by the application of a spe ... | 2007 | 17297589 |
| detection of mycobacterium leprae in ocular tissues by histopathology and real-time polymerase chain reaction. | to report detection of leprosy in ocular tissue by histopathology and its confirmation by genetic analysis. | 2007 | 17287607 |
| treating leprosy: an erb-al remedy? | the leprosy pathogen mycobacterium leprae attacks schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, causing them to demyelinate. recent work by tapinos et al. shows that a direct mechanism of demyelination induced by m. leprae depends on the binding of the bacterium to the receptor tyrosine kinase erbb2 on schwann cells and the resulting activation of the ras-raf-mek-erk pathway. these findings have relevance for the potential treatment of leprosy and they highlight parallels between the dediffere ... | 2007 | 17276519 |
| [conjunctival bacilloscopy in leprosy diagnosis and follow-up]. | to identify mycobacterium leprae in ocular conjunctivae and evaluate conjunctival bacilloscopy as leprosy diagnosis and follow-up test. | 2006 | 17273681 |
| hansen's disease and the eye. | 2006 | 17253016 | |
| dual mycobacterial infection in the setting of leflunomide treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. | 2007 | 17242021 | |
| review of ocular leprosy. | leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, affects peripheral nerves and skin. eye is also frequently affected, partial or total loss of vision is especially tragic in leprosy. but ocular leprosy is still neglected by the leprosy workers due to lack of knowledge, and is also often overlooked even by the ophthalmologists. here, an update review of ocular leprosy has been attempted regarding its epidemiology, clinical features, pathology, management and prevention under ... | 2006 | 17240815 |
| mechanism of thioamide drug action against tuberculosis and leprosy. | thioamide drugs, ethionamide (eth) and prothionamide (pth), are clinically effective in the treatment of mycobacterium tuberculosis, m. leprae, and m. avium complex infections. although generally considered second-line drugs for tuberculosis, their use has increased considerably as the number of multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis cases continues to rise. despite the widespread use of thioamide drugs to treat tuberculosis and leprosy, their precise mechanisms of actio ... | 2007 | 17227913 |
| the oral mucosa in paucibacillary leprosy: a clinical and histopathological study. | involvement of the oral mucosa can occur in lepromatous leprosy; however, lesions in the oral mucosa of paucibacillary patients have not been previously observed. | 2007 | 17223587 |
| contribution of gm-csf on the enhancement of the t cell-stimulating activity of macrophages. | mycobacterium leprae is an intracellular parasitic organism that multiplies in macrophages (mø). it inhibits the fusion of mycobacterial phagosome with lysosome and induces interleukin (il)-10 production from macrophages. however, macrophages are heterogenous in various aspects. we examined macrophages that differentiated from monocytes using either recombinant (r) granulocyte-mø colony-stimulating factor (gm-csf) (these mø are named as gm-mø) or rmø colony-stimulating factor (m-csf) (cells name ... | 2007 | 17198761 |
| [record of dasypus novemcinctus (mammalia: xenarthra) parasited by tunga terasma (siphonaptera: tungidae) in alegre, state of espírito santo, brazil]. | during a survey of mycobacterium leprae in wild armadillos in the state of espírito santo, thirty-four armadillos were captured in the municipality of alegre (20 degrees 45's, 41 degrees 29'w, 150m). the armadillos, dasypus novemcinctus were examined by clinical and macroscopic examination. in four armadillos (11.7%), were found nodes in the abdomen. the nodules were identified as tunga terasma. this is the first report of t. terasma in d. novemcinctus armadillos in the state of espírito santo, ... | 2006 | 17196127 |
| a glucose kinase from mycobacterium smegmatis. | carbon metabolism and regulation is poorly understood in mycobacteria, a genus that includes some major pathogenic species like mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae. here, we report the identification of a glucose kinase from mycobacterium smegmatis. this enzyme serves in glucose metabolism and global carbon catabolite repression in the related actinomycete streptomyces coelicolor. the gene, msmeg1356 (glka), was found by means of in silico screening. it was shown that it occurs i ... | 2007 | 17183214 |
| mycobacterium leprae inhibits dendritic cell activation and maturation. | leprosy presents with a clinical spectrum of skin lesions that span from strong th1-mediated cellular immunity and control of bacillary growth at one pole to poor ag-specific t cell immunity with extensive bacillary load and th2 cytokine-expressing lesions at the other. to understand how the immune response to mycobacterium leprae is regulated, human dendritic cells (dc), potent inducers of adaptive immune responses, exposed to m. leprae, mycobacterium tuberculosis (mtb), and mycobacterium bovis ... | 2007 | 17182571 |
| il-9 promotes anti-mycobacterium leprae cytotoxicity: involvement of ifngamma. | interleukin 9 (il-9) is a t-cell derived factor preferentially expressed by cd4+ th2 cells and it has been characterized both in human and murine systems. it is a pleiotropic cytokine with multiple functions on cells of the lymphoid, myeloid and mast cell lineages, as well as on lung epithelial cells. other activities described for il-9 support its contribution to asthma and its important role in helminthic infections, where a th2 response can be protective and il-9 enhances resistance or is res ... | 2007 | 17177973 |
| functional characterization of a t-cell receptor bv6+ t-cell clone derived from a leprosy lesion. | human infection with mycobacterium leprae, an intracellular bacterium, presents as a clinical and immunological spectrum; thus leprosy provides an opportunity to investigate mechanisms of t-cell responsiveness to a microbial pathogen. analysis of the t-cell receptor (tcr) repertoire in leprosy lesions revealed that tcr bv6(+) t cells containing a conserved cdr3 motif are over-represented in lesions from patients with the localized form of the disease. here, we derived a t-cell clone from a lepro ... | 2007 | 17140401 |
| tattooing in leprosy: the myth continues! | 2006 | 17120513 | |
| lepromatous leprosy with bilateral facial nerve palsy and hyperthyroidism. | bilateral lagophthalmos secondary to facial nerve is extremely uncommon. further, the aetiology in most of these cases is of central origin unlike the peripheral involvement in leprosy. a patient of lepromatous leprosy (ll) may be euthyroid or hypothyroid on account of leprous involvement of the thyroid gland. a case of ll with bilateral lagophthalmos and hyperthyroidism is reported. | 2006 | 17120512 |
| affection of immune zones in leprosy: a clinico-epidemiological study. | the study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of involvement of immune zones in leprosy and to assess the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of the disease in patients presenting with immune zone involvement. 200 leprosy cases were included in this study and detailed history, clinical examination, slit-skin smears and skin biopsies were carried out on all patients. those cases presenting with immune zone involvement were further evaluated for clinical and epidemiological characteristi ... | 2006 | 17120510 |
| primary neuritic leprosy: a reappraisal at a tertiary care hospital. | to study the clinico-epidemiological profile of primary neuritic leprosy. | 2006 | 17120509 |
| inter-state variations in integration of leprosy services into general health system in low/ moderately endemic states of india. | the objective of the study was to analyse inter-state variations in integration of leprosy services into the general health system, covering broad categories of structure integration, training of health functionaries, availability of mdt services and record maintenance, in 24 low/moderately endemic states. multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 9 states, 86 health facilities (including district hospitals, community health centres, primary health centres) and 108 sub-centres. in ... | 2006 | 17120508 |
| role of target groups in integrated leprosy programmes. | the introduction of integrated leprosy services into the primary health care set-up has taken away active case-detection in the community and is replaced by passive reporting by the suspected, afflicted individuals. this can only be made operative effectively with intensive iec activities in the community. a research study involving school-children (219,000) in leprosy work achieved spectacular success in new case-detection, effective monitoring, completion of mdt and coverage of a large number ... | 2006 | 17120507 |
| profile of new cases of childhood leprosy in a hospital setting. | a hospital-based prospective study was carried out to assess the frequency of occurrence of leprosy in childhood. out of 800 patients registered for leprosy, 67 (8.4%) were children aged 4-14 years. the male-to-female ratio was 2.5:1. family history of leprosy was found in 14.9% of cases. the commonest type of leprosy was bt leprosy (35.8%), followed by bb leprosy (25.4%) and bl leprosy (19.4%). more than half of the patients had more than one lesion. nerve involvement was noted in 70.1% of case ... | 2006 | 17120506 |
| awareness about the persons with disability act among leprosy patients and other disabled persons. | to assess the level of awareness about the different provisions of the persons with disability act (pwd act) among leprosy patients and other disabled, 233 disabled persons from the self-help groups formed by vadathorasalur leprosy control unit have been interviewed using a structured interview checklist. the results show that 74.7% of the respondents were aware that identity cards are available for the disabled, 56.2% were aware of the free education benefit to the disabled, as low as 35.6% wer ... | 2006 | 17120505 |
| the oral mucosa in leprosy: a clinical and histopathological study. | multibacillary leprosy may involve the oral mucosa, with or without apparent lesions. there are few studies that deal with this issue in the era of multidrug therapy. | 2006 | 17119765 |
| selection for unequal densities of sigma70 promoter-like signals in different regions of large bacterial genomes. | the evolutionary processes operating in the dna regions that participate in the regulation of gene expression are poorly understood. in escherichia coli, we have established a sequence pattern that distinguishes regulatory from nonregulatory regions. the density of promoter-like sequences, that could be recognizable by rna polymerase and may function as potential promoters, is high within regulatory regions, in contrast to coding regions and regions located between convergently transcribed genes ... | 2006 | 17096598 |
| the clinical and immunological features of leprosy. | leprosy is a granulomatous disease affecting the skin and nerves caused by mycobacterium leprae. it continues to be a significant public health problem. multidrug therapy (mdt) cures the infection, but immunological reactions may occur and neuropathy may lead to disability and deformity. it is important that the manifestations of the condition are recognized as early as possible so that early nerve damage can be identified and treated rapidly. | 2006 | 17090777 |
| glycosylation of pseudomonas aeruginosa strain pa5196 type iv pilins with mycobacterium-like alpha-1,5-linked d-araf oligosaccharides. | pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative bacterium that uses polar type iv pili for adherence to various materials and for rapid colonization of surfaces via twitching motility. within the p. aeruginosa species, five distinct alleles encoding variants of the structural subunit pila varying in amino acid sequence, length, and presence of posttranslational modifications have been identified. in this work, a combination of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to i ... | 2007 | 17085575 |
| lepromatous leprosy: a review and case report. | leprosy is a contagious and chronic systemic granulomatous disease caused by mycobacterium leprae (hansen s bacillus). it is transmitted from person to person and has a long incubation period (between two and six years). the disease presents polar clinical forms (the multibacillary lepromatous leprosy and the paucibacillary tuberculoid leprosy), as well as other intermediate forms with hybrid characteristics. oral manifestations usually appear in lepromatous leprosy and occur in 20-60% of cases. ... | 2006 | 17072249 |
| peroxynitrite scavenging by ferrous truncated hemoglobin glbo from mycobacterium leprae. | mycobacterium leprae glbo has been proposed to represent merging of both o(2) uptake/transport and scavenging of nitrogen reactive species. peroxynitrite reacts with m. leprae glbo(ii)-no leading to glbo(iii) via the glbo(iii)-no species. the value of the second order rate constant for glbo(iii)-no formation is >1x10(8)m(-1)s(-1) in the absence and presence of co(2) (1.2x10(-3)m). the co(2)-independent value of the first order rate constant for glbo(iii)-no denitrosylation is (2.5+/-0.4)x10(1)s( ... | 2006 | 17069757 |
| comparative genomics of metabolic pathways in mycobacterium species: gene duplication, gene decay and lateral gene transfer. | the genus mycobacterium comprises significant pathogenic species that infect both humans and animals. one species within this genus, mycobacterium tuberculosis, is the primary killer of humans resulting from bacterial infections. five mycobacterial genomes belonging to four different species (m. tuberculosis, mycobacterium bovis, mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis) have been sequenced to date and another 14 mycobacterial genomes are at various stages of completion ... | 2006 | 17064286 |
| the new mycobacteria: an update. | the continuous evolution of mycobacterial taxonomy may represent a source of confusion for laboratories and clinicians. apart from the obvious pathogenic strains of the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium ulcerans, the role of other mycobacteria may be associated with varying conditions ranging from contamination to specific disease processes. of the more than 120 mycobacterial species recognized currently, very few have not been reported as pathogenic in h ... | 2006 | 17064273 |
| immunostimulatory activity of recombinant mycobacterium bovis bcg that secretes major membrane protein ii of mycobacterium leprae. | we previously demonstrated that major membrane protein ii (mmp-ii) is one of the immunodominant antigens (ags) of mycobacterium leprae capable of activating t cells through toll-like receptor 2. based on the observation that mycobacterium bovis bcg secreting a 30-kda protein offered better protection against tuberculosis, we constructed a recombinant bcg strain (bcg-sm) that secretes mmp-ii to improve the potency of bcg against leprosy. the secreted mmp-ii protein from bcg-sm stimulated monocyte ... | 2006 | 17057093 |
| a simplified reverse transcriptase pcr for rapid detection of mycobacterium leprae in skin specimens. | an rna-based assay is an additional molecular tool for leprosy diagnosis and determination of the viability of leprosy bacilli. to simplify rna detection, a one-step reverse transcriptase pcr (rt-pcr) was established and evaluated. rna and dna could be isolated simultaneously. with the use of mycobacterium leprae-specific primers targeting a 171-bp fragment of the m. leprae 16s rna gene, rt-pcr resulted in detection of m. leprae in both slit skin smears and skin biopsy specimens. to enhance the ... | 2006 | 17052269 |
| alterations in t cell signal transduction by m. leprae antigens is associated with downregulation of second messengers pkc, calcium, calcineurin, mapk and various transcription factors in leprosy patients. | mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, challenges host defense mechanism by impairing the signal transduction of t cells which leads to downregulation of t cell proliferation, mainly as a consequence of interference with il-2 production. in this study we sought to identify how soluble forms of m. leprae antigen(s) or particulate (liposome) delivery of the same antigens with two immunomodulators murabutide and t cell peptide of trat protein influence the transcription of il-2 gene ... | 2007 | 17046060 |
| subcutaneous nodules and joint deformity in leprosy: case report and review. | leprosy (hansen's disease), known to be caused by mycobacterium leprae, is a well-known illness with multiple rheumatologic manifestations. this chronic granulomatous infection has clinical features that are variable, depending on the immune response of the host. manifestations consist mainly of involvement of the peripheral nerves, skin, upper respiratory system, eyes, and testes, as well as joints. musculoskeletal manifestations include arthralgias, arthritis, charcot arthropathy, and positive ... | 2003 | 17041455 |
| diagnosis of leprosy: serological aspects. | the most convenient way of diagnosing an infectious disease is by serological methods. to improve the quality of diagnosis in leprosy, simple tests in addition to diagnosis by clinical signs, are necessary. here, pgl-i based methods for detection of multibacillary and paucibacillary leprosy, have been revisited and newer methods are discussed. | 2006 | 17037385 |
| [identification of an immunodominant antigen of mycobacterium leprae and its application for the development of protective measures]. | host defense against mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae) is chiefly conducted by cellular immunity. the adaptive immunity plays an important role, and t cells are activated through recognition of some immunodominant antigens of m. leprae. a search for an immunodominant antigen was carried out using human peripheral monocytes-derived dendritic cells and m. leprae-derived cell membrane fraction which is the most antigenic fraction of the bacteria, and major membrane protein (mmp)-ii was found as one ... | 2006 | 17037384 |
| [dna microarray based rapid drug susceptibility test for mycobacterium leprae]. | antibiotic susceptibility test of mycobacterium leprae still relies on the time consuming methods based on the growth of m. leprae in the mouse footpad. thus, the establishment of a rapid, simple and reliable method for the detection of drug-resistant m. leprae is one of the most urgent subjects in the treatment of leprosy patients. recently, many data on the mutation of specific genes correlating with drug resistance have been accumulated. application of these data permit the establishment of n ... | 2006 | 17037383 |
| [current practice of genetic diagnosis for mycobacterium leprae]. | laboratory tests necessary for the diagnosis of leprosy have not been well introduced in general hospitals and clinical laboratories. therefore, several tests have been performed in leprosy research center, national institute of infectious diseases since july, 1997, as a part of administrative examinations (tests done by request of ministry of health, labour and welfare). these examinations include histopathology, serum antibody titers (anti-pgl-i antibody), pcr test and bioactivity of anti-bact ... | 2006 | 17037381 |
| [basic evaluation for new antimicrobial susceptibility testing of mycobacterium leprae by bioluminescence assay (atp method)]. | antimicrobial susceptibility testing of mycobacterium leprae by non-radioactive bioluminescence assay was developed. optimization of the assay conditions such as temperature and time for atp extraction, bacteria dose, preparation of bacteria suspension and ph of culture medium was carried out using m. leprae thai 53 strain. samples of bacterial suspension of m. leprae were first treated with filamentous cell treatment reagent at room temperature for 30 minutes and atp was extracted from the lepr ... | 2006 | 17037377 |
| b-cell immune responses in hiv positive and hiv negative patients with tuberculosis evaluated with an elisa using a glycolipid antigen. | the diagnostic value of the pgl-tb1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (elisa) was established following a survey study using sera from 220 tuberculosis patients (including 69 hiv coinfected) and 324 controls. a higher percentage (76.8%) of the hiv-seropositive compared to the hiv-seronegative (58.9%) tb patients were elisa positive (p=0.02) with a specificity of 94%. in hiv-positive tb patients, elisa sensitivity was identical for all sites of disease and antibody levels were not affected by th ... | 2007 | 17030018 |
| two patients coinfected with mycobacterium leprae and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and naive for antiretroviral therapy who exhibited type 1 leprosy reactions mimicking the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. | two case reports of patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1) infection who developed leprosy are presented. both developed type 1 leprosy reactions in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. reactions have been described for a number of hiv-1- and mycobacterium leprae-coinfected patients and have been considered to be part of an immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (iris) since the reactions were usually linked to the administration of highly active antiretroviral therapy. ... | 2006 | 17021066 |
| reverse line probe assay for the rapid detection of rifampicin resistance in mycobacterium leprae. | mutations in the rpob gene of 40 biopsy isolates of mycobacterium leprae were analyzed by reverse hybridization-based line probe assay after pcr, and nine distinct single-nucleotide substitutions were found. among them, a 3-nucleotide substitution was found in two, and 2-nucleotide substitutions were found in seven isolates. this is a new finding of multiple mutations in a single point of the rpob gene for rifampicin resistance. this investigation demonstrates that the pattern of mutations in th ... | 2006 | 17017404 |
| borderline tuberculoid leprosy in a woman from the state of georgia with armadillo exposure. | in the southern and southeastern united states, the 9-banded armadillo is an important reservoir for mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy (hansen's disease). here, we describe a woman living in georgia with borderline tuberculoid leprosy who worked for many years in a garden where armadillos burrowed or were buried. there was no history of foreign travel or known exposure to a person with leprosy. treatment with 6 once-monthly combined doses of rifampin, ofloxacin, and minocyclin ... | 2006 | 17010758 |
| mycobacterium leprae is naturally resistant to pa-824. | leprosy responds very slowly to the current multidrug therapy, and hence there is a need for novel drugs with potent bactericidal activity. pa-824 is a 4-nitroimidazo-oxazine that is currently undergoing phase i clinical trials for the treatment of tuberculosis. the activity of pa-824 against mycobacterium leprae was tested and compared with that of rifampin in axenic cultures, macrophages, and two different animal models. our results conclusively demonstrate that pa-824 has no effect on the via ... | 2006 | 17005816 |
| detection of antibodies against mycobacterium leprae culture filtrate protein-10 in leprosy patients. | the prevalence of igg antibodies against mycobacterium leprae recombinant culture filtrate protein-10 (rcfp-10) was investigated in serum samples from 56 leprosy patients, 15 tuberculosis (tb) patients, 14 other skin-diseased patients and 20 healthy subjects. on classifying the patients into bacterial index (bi)-positive and bi-negative groups, the assay showed 83.3 % (15/18) sensitivity for detection of bi-positive leprosy patients. on the other hand, the sensitivity for detection of bi-negativ ... | 2006 | 17005781 |
| effect of thalidomide on the expression of tnf-alpha m-rna and synthesis of tnf-alpha in cells from leprosy patients with reversal reaction. | hypersensitivity reactions called reversal reaction (rr) and erythema nodosum leprosum (enl) occur in leprosy. they are characterized by an increase in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-alpha). thalidomide is an effective treatment for enl but not rr. its effectiveness in enl is attributed to inhibition of tnf-alpha, and this does not explain its failure to treat rr. we assessed thalidomide's effect on tnf-alpha in rr. mononuclear cells from rr and non-rr patients and healthy individuals were tre ... | 2006 | 16997792 |
| [preliminary study on the genotyping of mycobacterium leprae on 50 isolates from china]. | to understand the genotypic mapping of mycobacterium leprae identified in china and to compare with those from other countries to select suitable alleles for epidemiological investigation in the transmission chain of leprosy. | 2006 | 16981335 |
| m. leprae inhibits apoptosis in thp-1 cells by downregulation of bad and bak and upregulation of mcl-1 gene expression. | virulent mycobacterium leprae interfere with host defense mechanisms such as cytokine activation and apoptosis. the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis is regulated by the bcl-2 family of proteins. expression of fas ligand and apoptotic proteins is found in leprosy lesions and m. leprae has been shown to activate pro-apoptotic bcl-2 genes, bak and bax. however, the mechanism by which m. leprae modulates apoptosis is as yet unclear. we investigated expression of apoptotic genes in thp-1 monocytes ... | 2006 | 16978419 |
| genetic predisposition to leprosy: a major gene reveals novel pathways of immunity to mycobacterium leprae. | the elucidation of the genetic control of susceptibility to common infectious diseases is expected to provide new and more effective tools for prevention and control of some of the most pressings health needs on a global scale. a major advantage of whole genome based genetic approaches is that no a priori assumptions about mechanisms of pathogenesis need to be made in these studies. hence, genetic studies can identify previously unrecognized pathways of disease susceptibility and tag critical pa ... | 2006 | 16973374 |
| evaluation of recombinant serine-rich 45-kda antigen (ml0411) for detection of antibodies in leprosy patients. | the potential of the recombinant serine-rich 45-kda antigen (ml0411) of mycobacterium leprae to aid in detecting m. leprae-specific serum antibodies was assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) in leprosy patients and controls comprising of tuberculosis patients, other unrelated skin-diseased patients and healthy individuals from india. all 18 multibacillary (mb) and 18/38 (47.4%) of the paucibacillary (pb) leprosy patients were found positive. none of the controls was positive, ... | 2006 | 16970689 |
| use of protein microarrays to define the humoral immune response in leprosy patients and identification of disease-state-specific antigenic profiles. | although the global prevalence of leprosy has decreased over the last few decades due to an effective multidrug regimen, large numbers of new cases are still being reported, raising questions as to the ability to identify patients likely to spread disease and the effects of chemotherapy on the overall incidence of leprosy. this can partially be attributed to the lack of diagnostic markers for different clinical states of the disease and the consequent implementation of differential, optimal drug ... | 2006 | 16966411 |
| interaction of taqi polymorphism at exon 9 of the vitamin d receptor gene with the negative lepromin response may favor the occurrence of leprosy. | controversies over the vitamin d receptor (vdr) acting as a susceptibility factor in mycobacterium sp. infections may be the result of incorrect population stratification. the risk of leprosy occurrence conditioned by vdr polymorphism was investigated by stratifying the population of a highly endemic brazilian region into negative and positive mitsuda responses. leprosy patients (102) and a group of healthy nonconsanguineous household contacts (68) were genotyped for the vdr taqi polymorphism (t ... | 2006 | 16965356 |
| evaluation of real-time and conventional pcr targeting complex 85 genes for detection of mycobacterium leprae dna in skin biopsy samples from patients diagnosed with leprosy. | in spite of the decrease in the number of registered leprosy patients, the number of new cases diagnosed each year (400,000) has remained essentially unchanged. leprosy diagnosis is difficult due to the low sensitivity of current methodologies to identify new cases. in this study, conventional and taqman real-time pcr assays for detection of mycobacterium leprae dna were compared to current classification based on clinical, bacteriological, and histological evaluation. m. leprae dna was extracte ... | 2006 | 16954241 |
| inactivation of rv2525c, a substrate of the twin arginine translocation (tat) system of mycobacterium tuberculosis, increases beta-lactam susceptibility and virulence. | the twin arginine translocation (tat) system is used by many bacteria to export fully folded proteins containing cofactors. here, we show genetically that this system is essential for mycobacterium tuberculosis, as the tatac operon and tatb genes could be inactivated only in partially diploid strains. using comparative genomics, the rv2525c gene of m. tuberculosis was identified as encoding a histidine-rich protein, with a twin arginine signal peptide, and orthologous genes were shown to be pres ... | 2006 | 16952959 |
| glycoconjugates: roles in neural diseases caused by exogenous pathogens. | numerous reports indicate that lipid or protein associated carbohydrates are essential for infection of cells by various viruses, bacteria, or bacterial toxins, some of which affect the nervous system. examples of such pathogens include tetanus and botulinum neurotoxin, shiga and shiga-like toxins, borrelia burgdorferi, mycobacterium leprae, and human immunodeficiency virus. this review discusses evidence indicating that carbohydrates are essential for these pathogens to induce their deleterious ... | 2006 | 16918390 |
| mannan-binding lectin plasma levels in leprosy: deficiency confers protection against the lepromatous but not the tuberculoid forms. | mannan-binding lectin (mbl) is an important component of the first-line defence against infections. evidence has shown that mbl deficiency, reducing phagocytosis and internalization of intracellular pathogens may protect the host against intracellular infections such as leprosy. in this study, we speculated whether genetically determined low mbl serum levels confer protection against mycobacterium leprae infection. one hundred and ninety-one patients with leprosy, presenting lepromatous (n = 118 ... | 2006 | 16907914 |
| an immunohistochemical, clinical and electroneuromyographic correlative study of the neural markers in the neuritic form of leprosy. | the nerve biopsies of 11 patients with pure neuritic leprosy were submitted to routine diagnostic procedures and immunoperoxidase staining with antibodies against axonal (neurofilament, nerve growth factor receptor (ngfr), and protein gene product (pgp) 9.5) and schwann cell (myelin basic protein, s-100 protein, and ngfr) markers. two pairs of non-adjacent histological cross-sections of the peripheral nerve were removed for quantification. all the fascicles of the nerve were examined with a 10x- ... | 2006 | 16906282 |
| analysis of gene probes and gene amplification techniques for diagnosis and monitoring of treatment in childhood leprosy. | nucleic acid sequences of mycobacterium leprae were detected using gene probes hybridizing with targeting ribosomal rna (16s rrna), ribosomal dna (16s rdna) and gene amplification techniques (pcr) in skin lesion of paediatric leprosy patients and the effect of treatment on the by these methods. eighty paediatric leprosy patients were included in the study. most cases (79%) were between 9 and 16 years of age. cases were divided into three groups according to treatment status, viz. untreated (30), ... | 2006 | 16895070 |
| erbb2 receptor tyrosine kinase signaling mediates early demyelination induced by leprosy bacilli. | demyelination is a common pathologic feature in many neurodegenerative diseases including infection with leprosy-causing mycobacterium leprae. because of the long incubation time and highly complex disease pathogenesis, the management of nerve damage in leprosy, as in other demyelinating diseases, is extremely difficult. therefore, an important challenge in therapeutic interventions is to identify the molecular events that occur in the early phase before the progression of the disease. here we p ... | 2006 | 16892039 |
| tyrosine kinases: maiming myelin in leprosy. | 2006 | 16892032 | |
| mycobacterium leprae interactions with the host cell: recent advances. | the significance of hansen disease, or leprosy, is underscored by fact that detection of this disease has remained stable over the past 10 yr, even though disease prevalence is reduced. due to the long incubation time of the organism, health experts predict that leprosy will be with us for decades to come. despite the fact that mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, cannot be cultured in the laboratory, researchers are using innovative and imaginative techniques to discern the int ... | 2006 | 16885596 |
| s-100 as a useful auxiliary diagnostic aid in tuberculoid leprosy. | the diagnosis of tuberculoid leprosy is often difficult on hematoxylin and eosin (h&e) due to the absence of demonstrable nerve destruction. this study evaluates the utility of s-100 staining in identifying nerve fragmentation and differentiation of tuberculoid leprosy from other cutaneous granulomatous diseases. | 2006 | 16872470 |
| genotypic analysis of mycobacterium leprae isolates from japan and other asian countries reveals a global transmission pattern of leprosy. | the genotype of single-nucleotide polymorphism type 3, ctc, at positions 14676, 164275, and 2935685, along with four copies of 6 bp repeats in the rpot gene, was predominant for isolates originating in the japanese mainland. type 1, cga, type 2, cta, and type 3 were detected from korea, indonesia, and myanmar. no isolates with four copies of 6 bp were detected from myanmar, okinawa, and japanese brazilian patients. type 4, ttc, with three copies of 6 bp, was detected only from japanese brazilian ... | 2006 | 16842372 |
| breaking down the wall: fractionation of mycobacteria. | mycobacterium spp. possess a complex cell envelope that consists of a plasma membrane, a peptidoglycan-arabinogalactan complex which in turn is esterified by mycolic acids that form with other non-bound lipids an asymmetric permeability barrier and an outer layer, also called a capsule in the case of pathogenic species. in order to investigate the functional roles of the cell envelope components, especially those of the major pathogens mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, it is n ... | 2007 | 16839634 |
| prevalence of leprosy in agra district (u.p.) india from 2001 to 20031. | leprosy prevalence has reportedly declined all over the world, but six countries, including india, are still endemic for the disease. india alone contributes about 60% to the world's leprosy case load, with the major share from its northern states. the present study done in agra district was based on a randomly-selected sample of over 10% of the population, spread across 300 villages and 16 urban units of the district. a house-to-house survey was conducted from july 2001 to july 2003 in all the ... | 2005 | 16830654 |
| comparative evaluation of immunotherapeutic efficacy of bcg and mw vaccines in patients of borderline lepromatous and lepromatous leprosy. | even after 12 months of multi-drug therapy (m.d.t.) multibacillary (mb) therapy patients with high bacterial index (b.i.) continue to harbor dead bacilli and viable persisters, which lead to immunological complications such as recurrent reactions and late relapses, respectively. to achieve faster killing of viable bacilli and clearance of dead bacilli, various immunotherapeutic agents (vaccines and cytokines) are being evaluated as an adjunct to m.d.t. aims and objectives. to evaluate the role o ... | 2005 | 16830653 |
| persister studies in leprosy patients after multi-drug treatment. | cutaneous biopsies were collected from leprosy patients who attended the out-patient department of the institute for treatment at different intervals, i.e., 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 36 months, and more after beginning the multi-drug treatment therapy (m.d.t.). the patients belonged to the two drug regimens; (i) standard multibacillary (mb) m.d.t. after 12, 24, and 36 months; or (ii) standard m.d.t. + minocycline 100 mg once a month (supervised) + ofloxacin 400 mg once a month supervised ... | 2005 | 16830652 |