Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| serologic recognition of low molecular weight mycobacterial protein fractions in lepromatous patients with type ii reactions (enl). | 2005 | 16830648 | |
| leprosy bacillus triggers the wrong cells. | 2005 | 16830644 | |
| effects of purification and fluorescent staining on viability of mycobacterium leprae. | over the years, researchers have carried out experiments with mycobacterium leprae obtained from either human multibacillary lesions, or infected armadillo tissues, or infected footpad tissues of conventional mice as well as athymic nu/nu mice. in general, these sources of leprosy bacilli are satisfactory for most biochemical and mouse footpad studies, but less than satisfactory for studies in cell biology and immunology where contaminating host tissues pose a serious problem. we examined the ut ... | 2005 | 16830641 |
| erythema nodosum leprosum and hiv infection: a therapeutic experience. | the relationship between leprosy and hiv infection is not yet fully understood, as not much is known about the natural history of the co-infected patients. the matter has become more confusing because of conflicting reports. type-1 lepra reactions and neuritis appear to be severe and more frequent among them. but erythema nodosum leprosum too is not as uncommon among these patients as it was once thought. management of these co-infected patients is often difficult for want of clear-cut guideline ... | 2005 | 16830640 |
| schwann cells: origins and role in axonal maintenance and regeneration. | the schwann cell plays a vital role in maintaining the peripheral nervous system (pns). schwann cells are derived from neural crest cells, and come in two types either myelinating or non-myelinating schwann cells. both play a pivotal role in the maintenance and regeneration of axons of the neurons in the pns. the regulation of schwann cells is mediated a number of different neurotrophic factors which signal to transcription factors such as krox-20, oct-6 and sox-10. schwann cells are affected in ... | 2006 | 16807057 |
| towards an immunodiagnostic test for leprosy. | in addition to multidrug therapy, elimination of leprosy requires improved diagnostic methods. using a comparative genomics approach, 17 potential protein antigens (mlp) that are restricted to mycobacterium leprae, or of limited distribution, were produced and tested for antigen-specific immune responses on leprosy patients, healthy contacts of leprosy patients, and tuberculosis patients in mali and bangladesh, as well as on non-endemic controls. t-cell antigenicity of mlp was confirmed by ifn-g ... | 2006 | 16797206 |
| immunogenicity of mycobacterium ulcerans hsp65 and protective efficacy of a mycobacterium leprae hsp65-based dna vaccine against buruli ulcer. | buruli ulcer, a disease caused by mycobacterium ulcerans, is emerging as an increasingly important cause of morbidity throughout the world, for which surgery is the only efficient treatment to date. the aim of this work was to identify potential vaccine candidates in an experimental model of mouse infection. in balb/c mice infected with m. ulcerans subcutaneously, hsp65 appeared to be an immunodominant antigen eliciting both humoral and cellular responses. however, vaccination of mice with a dna ... | 2006 | 16781179 |
| cyclooxygenase 2 expression in vessels and nerves in reversal reaction leprosy. | tissue expression of cyclooxygenase (cox)2, an inducible enzyme synthesizing eicosanoids in inflammation, was studied in reversal reaction (rr) leprosy in comparison with nonreactionary leprosy. cox2 was consistently expressed in cells of the mononuclear-macrophage lineage across the leprosy spectrum. only in rr, the following two additional sites showed cox2 expression in the dermis and subcutis: 1) microvessels and 2) nerve bundles and isolated nerve fibers. the same sites also express vascula ... | 2006 | 16760523 |
| high-level expression of pseudogenes in mycobacterium leprae. | recent studies have revealed that some rnas are transcribed from noncoding dna regions, including pseudogenes, and are functional as riboregulators. we have attempted to assess the gene expression profile throughout the mycobacterium leprae genome using an array technique. twelve highly expressed gene regions were identified that show an alteration in expression levels upon infection. six of these were pseudogenes. although m. leprae has an exceptional number and proportion of pseudogenes among ... | 2006 | 16734781 |
| interactions between hiv infection and leprosy: a paradox. | early in the hiv epidemic it was feared that the disease would undermine leprosy control, as has occurred with tuberculosis. it was predicted that patients with leprosy and hiv coinfection would have an increased risk of lepromatous disease and a faster clinical evolution, and that the leprosy would be more difficult to treat. none of these concerns have materialised and the interaction between hiv and mycobacterium leprae seems to be far more subtle than that between hiv and tuberculosis. we re ... | 2006 | 16728321 |
| hla and leprosy in the pre and postgenomic eras. | leprosy has intrigued immunologists for many decades. despite minimal genetic variation between mycobacterium leprae isolates worldwide, two completely different forms of the disease can develop in the susceptible human host: localized, tuberculoid, or paucibacillary leprosy, which can heal spontaneously, and disseminating, lepromatous, or multibacillary leprosy, which is progressive if untreated. the questions which host factors regulate these very different outcomes of infection, by what mecha ... | 2006 | 16728267 |
| risk factors for developing leprosy--a population-based cohort study in indonesia. | we identified risk factors associated with increased yearly incidence rates of leprosy in five island populations. age, sex, household size and mycobacterium leprae-specific antibodies as well as contact factors were studied. of 94 index patients (patients diagnosed in 2000), 43 (46%) were classified as multibacillary (mb), 17 (19%) were seropositive for pgl-1 [corrected] antibodies and 6 (7%) had m. leprae dna in nasal swabs as determined by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) testing. all pcr posi ... | 2006 | 16715690 |
| the mouse foot-pad technique for cultivation of mycobacterium leprae. | although multiplication of mycobacterium leprae in the foot pads of immune-competent mice is limited, and no leprosy-like lesions are produced in these animals, the mouse foot-pad system represents the first truly useful and reproducible animal model of m. leprae infection. its employment has enabled research into basic questions with respect to the microbiology of m. leprae, and the epidemiology, treatment and control of leprosy. the mouse foot-pad technique is labour-intensive and time-consumi ... | 2006 | 16715686 |
| the mouse footpad model. | 2006 | 16715685 | |
| dc-sign interacts with mycobacterium leprae but sequence variation in this lectin is not associated with leprosy in the pakistani population. | the c-type lectin dc-sign is involved in early interactions between human innate immune cells and a variety of pathogens. here we sought to evaluate whether dc-sign interacts with the leprosy bacillus, mycobacterium leprae, and whether dc-sign genetic variation influences the susceptibility and/or pathogenesis of the disease. a case-control study conducted in a cohort of 272 individuals revealed no association between dc-sign variation and leprosy. however, our results clearly show that dc-sign ... | 2006 | 16698431 |
| cytokine measurement in lymphocyte culture supernatant of inactive lepromatous leprosy patients. | the aim of the present study was to determine the effects of stimulation of sonicated mycobacterium leprae (mls) extract and phorbol myristate acetate (pma) on the pattern of cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) and to find out whether there is any difference between stimulation of mls extract and pma. blood samples were collected and pbmc isolated from 43 inactive lepromatous leprosy patients. after culture for 24 hours, lymphocytes were stimulated with mls extract a ... | 2006 | 16687863 |
| mycobacterium leprae in untreated lepromatous leprosy: more than skin deep. | 2006 | 16681612 | |
| histological and genotypical characterization of feline cutaneous mycobacteriosis: a retrospective study of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. | twenty-nine cases presumptively diagnosed as feline cutaneous mycobacteriosis were evaluated microscopically with haematoxylin and eosin and modified fite's stained sections using archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens. lesions were characterized histologically as feline leprosy (7 cases lepromatous and 16 cases tuberculoid) or atypical mycobacteriosis (3 cases); three cases did not fit these criteria and were classified as 'miscellaneous'. actinomycetales-specific polymerase ... | 2006 | 16674729 |
| impaired maturation and function of dendritic cells by mycobacteria through il-1beta. | dendritic cells (dc) are pivotal for initiation and regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses evoked by vaccination and natural infection. after infection, mycobacterial pathogens first encounter monocytes, which produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, including il-1beta, tnf-alpha and il-6. the role of these cytokines in dc maturation remains incompletely understood. here, we show that maturation of dc from monocytes was impaired by pretreatment of monocytes with low doses of il-1beta. und ... | 2006 | 16673446 |
| signature proteins that are distinctive characteristics of actinobacteria and their subgroups. | the actinobacteria constitute one of the main phyla of bacteria. presently, no morphological and very few molecular characteristics are known which can distinguish species of this highly diverse group. in this work, we have analyzed the genomes of four actinobacteria (viz. mycobacterium leprae tn, leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli str. ctcb07, bifidobacterium longum ncc2705 and thermobifida fusca yx) to search for proteins that are unique to actinobacteria. our analyses have identified 233 actinobacter ... | 2006 | 16670965 |
| a thai patient with generalised inflammatory skin disease 18 years after migration to europe. | 2006 | 16650656 | |
| national leprosy eradication programme, india. national action plan for 2006-07. | 2006 | 16646283 | |
| who regional strategy for sustaining leprosy services and further reducing the burden of leprosy, 2006-2010. | 2006 | 16646282 | |
| who global strategy for further reducing the leprosy burden and sustaining leprosy control activities (plan period: 2006-2010). | 2006 | 16646281 | |
| socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioural risk factors for leprosy in north-east brazil: results of a case-control study. | brazil reports almost 80% of all leprosy cases in the americas. this study aimed to identify socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioural factors associated with risk of leprosy occurrence in the endemic north-eastern region. | 2006 | 16645029 |
| the continuing challenges of leprosy. | leprosy is best understood as two conjoined diseases. the first is a chronic mycobacterial infection that elicits an extraordinary range of cellular immune responses in humans. the second is a peripheral neuropathy that is initiated by the infection and the accompanying immunological events. the infection is curable but not preventable, and leprosy remains a major global health problem, especially in the developing world, publicity to the contrary notwithstanding. mycobacterium leprae remains no ... | 2006 | 16614253 |
| a ten-year historic study of paranasal cavity endoscopy in patients with leprosy. | leprosy is an infectious condition that has a chronic evolution caused by the mycobacterium leprae. it very often attacks the nasal cavities mucosa independent of its clinical form, even before skin lesions or lesions to other parts of the body arise, in the presence or not of clinical complaints. | 2006 | 16612522 |
| distribution of environmental mycobacteria in karonga district, northern malawi. | the genus mycobacterium includes many species that are commonly found in the environment (in soil and water or associated with plants and animals), as well as species that are responsible for two major human diseases, tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis) and leprosy (mycobacterium leprae). the distribution of environmental mycobacteria was investigated in the context of a long-term study of leprosy, tuberculosis, mycobacterium bovis bcg vaccination, and the responses of individuals to vario ... | 2006 | 16597928 |
| isothermal amplification and molecular typing of the obligate intracellular pathogen mycobacterium leprae isolated from tissues of unknown origins. | molecular diagnostic and epidemiology studies require appreciable amounts of high-quality dna. molecular epidemiologic methods have not been routinely applied to the obligate intracellular organism mycobacterium leprae because of the difficulty of obtaining a genomic dna template from clinical material. accordingly, we have developed a method based on isothermic multiple-displacement amplification to allow access to a high-quality dna template. in the study described in this report, we evaluated ... | 2006 | 16597883 |
| synthesis and antileprosy activity of some dialkyldithiocarbamates. | to investigate the antileprosy potential of a set of original compounds with antimycobacterial activity. | 2006 | 16595643 |
| dc-sign association with the th2 environment of lepromatous lesions: cause or effect? | the clinical spectrum of leprosy is related to patients' immune responses. non-responsiveness towards mycobacterium leprae (ml) seems to correlate with a th2 cytokine profile. the reason for such a polarized immune response remains unclear. the c-type lectin, dc-sign, expressed by subsets of dendritic cells (dcs) and macrophages, has previously been associated with th2 responses. here we show abundant dc-sign expression in lepromatous but not borderline tuberculoid leprosy, in both hiv-positive ... | 2006 | 16583355 |
| on cell signalling mechanism of mycobacterium leprae soluble antigen (mlsa) in jurkat t cells. | we investigated the role of mycobaterium leprae soluble antigen (mlsa) in the modulation of calcium signalling, phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein (map) kinases and il-2 mrna expression in human jurkat t cells. we observed that mlsa induced an increase in free intracellular calcium concentrations, [ca2+]i, via opening crac (ca2+-release activated- ca2+) channels. furthermore, mlsa failed to potentiate both thapsigargin- and anti-cd3 antibodies-induced capacitative calcium influx in jur ... | 2006 | 16583135 |
| anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in leprosy. | anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (anca) are auto-antibodies directed to intracellular components of neutrophils and used to be considered as present almost exclusively in granulomatous vasculitis. recently, these auto-antibodies have been found in other autoimmune disorders as well as infectious diseases. | 2007 | 16572282 |
| bactericidal activities of r207910 and other newer antimicrobial agents against mycobacterium leprae in mice. | as measured by a proportional bactericidal technique in the mouse footpad system, the bactericidal activity against mycobacterium leprae of r207910 was equal to that of rifapentine, rifampin, or moxifloxacin and significantly greater than those of minocycline, pa-824, and linezolid. these data suggest that r207910 may play an important role in treatment of leprosy. | 2006 | 16569884 |
| use of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine oxidation in the identification of mycobacterium leprae. | 1966 | 16562150 | |
| electron microscope study of mycobacterium leprae and its environment in a vesicular leprous lesion. | imaeda, tamotsu (instituto venezolano de investigaciones cientificas, caracas, venezuela) and jacinto convit. electron microscope study of mycobacterium leprae and its environment in a vesicular leprous lesion. j. bacteriol. 83:43-52. 1962.-biopsied specimens of a borderline leprosy lesion were observed with the electron microscope. in this lesion, the majority of mycobacterium leprae were laden with cytoplasmic components. the bacilli were separated from the cytoplasm of host cells by an enclos ... | 1962 | 16561926 |
| dissociation of mycobacterium leprae. | 1932 | 16559593 | |
| resistance to mycobacterium leprae in mice infected with toxoplasma gondii and besnoitia jellisoni. | mice chronically infected with the intracellular protozoan toxoplasma gondii or besnoitia jellisoni were resistant to footpad challenge with mycobacterium leprae. resistance was manifested by lower numbers of recoverable m. leprae in the footpads of protozoal-infected mice and was enhanced in toxoplasma-infected mice by a booster injection of toxoplasma antigen in the infected footpad. the results suggest a major role for the activated macrophage in the control of m. leprae infection. | 1974 | 16558091 |
| hereditary characteristic that varies among isolates of mycobacterium leprae. | isolates of mycobacterium leprae in mouse foot pads were found to differ in two related properties, the average rate of growth between inoculation and harvest (g) and the number of bacilli in the harvest (h). for "fast" strains the median values for g were less than 25 days per generation, and the median values for h were above 10(6.1). for "slow" strains the median values for g were above 30, and the median values for h were below 10(5.6). the g and h values for the 59 isolates for which data w ... | 1971 | 16557927 |
| relationship between the staining quality of mycobacterium leprae and infectivity for mice. | the proposal has been made that only solidly staining forms of mycobacterium leprae are viable. on the basis of a previous study, solidly staining bacilli were defined as those that stained completely and darkly throughout their length. a study was carried out to correlate the proportion of solidly staining bacilli in inocula with the infectivity and rate of appearance of bacillary growth in inoculated mice. the inocula originated in skin biopsy specimens of patients and in mouse passage materia ... | 1971 | 16557926 |
| a clinical trial of ethionamide and prothionamide for treatment of lepromatous leprosy. | in 1982-1984 we conducted a six-month clinical trial in 50 previously untreated lepromatous leprosy patients randomly assigned to directly observed monotherapy with one of two thioamides, ethionamide or prothionamide, each given six times a week at doses of either 250 mg or 500 mg. the findings of this study have only recently been analyzed, and the potential for the use of these thioamides in leprosy patients placed in perspective. however, because of the small number of patients included in th ... | 2006 | 16525107 |
| truncated hemoglobin glbo from mycobacterium leprae alleviates nitric oxide toxicity. | as a consequence of reductive genome evolution, the obligate intracellular pathogen mycobacterium leprae has minimized the repertoire of genes implicated in defense against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. genes for multiple hemoglobin types coexist in mycobacterial genomes, but m. leprae has retained only glbo, encoding a group-ii truncated hemoglobin. mycobacterium tuberculosis glbo has been involved in oxygen transfer and respiration during hypoxia, but a role in protection from nitric o ... | 2006 | 16524692 |
| ml0405 and ml2331 are antigens of mycobacterium leprae with potential for diagnosis of leprosy. | despite the success of multidrug therapy in reducing the number of registered leprosy cases worldwide, evidence suggests that mycobacterium leprae continues to be transmitted. a serological diagnostic test capable of identifying and allowing treatment of early-stage disease could reduce transmission and prevent the onset of the disability, a common complication of the disease in later stages. serological diagnosis based on antibody recognition of phenolic glycolipid i (pgl-i) cannot reliably ide ... | 2006 | 16522774 |
| nerve damage in mycobacterium ulcerans-infected mice: probable cause of painlessness in buruli ulcer. | buruli ulcer is an emerging chronic painless skin disease found in the tropics and caused by mycobacterium ulcerans; however, it remains unknown why the large and deep ulcers associated with this disease remain painless. to answer this question, we examined the pathology of balb/c mice inoculated in the footpads with m. ulcerans african strain 97-107. on days 54 to 70 after inoculation, extensive dermal ulcers, subcutaneous edema, and numerous acid-fast bacilli were noted at the inoculate region ... | 2006 | 16507896 |
| elevated serum ccl2 concomitant with a reduced mycobacterium-induced response leads to disease dissemination in leprosy. | mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium tuberculosis are successful intracellular pathogens which down regulate host immune responses. t-cell interferon-gamma (ifngamma) and macrophage tumour necrosis factor-alpha (tnfalpha) activate chemokines such as, c-c chemokine ligand-2 (ccl2) and ccl5, which play a role in granuloma formation. lepromatous leprosy is characterized by defective granulomas with lowered t-cell- and macrophage-mediated responses. tuberculosis (tb) can be localized to the lung, ... | 2006 | 16499578 |
| primary involvement of penile skin in lepromatous leprosy. | skin lesions in lepromatous leprosy (ll) are usually multiple and widespread. though the lesion may occur anywhere on the skin, male genitalia is rarely involved. in all cases reported so far about penile lesions of ll, there were lesions on the other parts of the body also. in some of the cases scrotum was also involved. we report here a patient who presented himself with a single macular lesion of leprosy on the shaft of his penis diagnosed as a case of lepromatous leprosy on slit-skin smear a ... | 2005 | 16465827 |
| the debate over leprosy elimination versus sustainability of leprosy services. | 2005 | 16465825 | |
| regulation of acquired immunity by gamma delta t-cell/dendritic-cell interactions. | in humans, innate immune recognition of mycobacteria, including mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, involves toll-like receptor-2 (tlr-2), expressed on immature dendritic cells (dcs), and the t-cell gammadelta receptor expressed by a subpopulation of t cells that utilize vdelta2 (vdelta2 t cells). to investigate modulatory relationships between these host-cell populations in a microbial context, in vitro experiments were performed with human dcs and vdelta2 t cells stimulated wi ... | 2005 | 16461791 |
| false-positive amplified mycobacterium tuberculosis direct test results for samples containing mycobacterium leprae. | nucleic acid amplification tests are widely used in mycobacteriology laboratories to rapidly detect mycobacterium tuberculosis complex directly in clinical specimens. a positive result provides an early diagnosis of tuberculosis, allowing initiation of appropriate therapy and public health measures. | 2006 | 16455924 |
| tissue distribution of a plasmid dna encoding hsp65 gene is dependent on the dose administered through intramuscular delivery. | in order to assess a new strategy of dna vaccine for a more complete understanding of its action in immune response, it is important to determine the in vivo biodistribution fate and antigen expression. in previous studies, our group focused on the prophylactic and therapeutic use of a plasmid dna encoding the mycobacterium leprae 65-kda heat shock protein (hsp65) and achieved an efficient immune response induction as well as protection against virulent m. tuberculosis challenge. in the present ... | 2006 | 16445866 |
| lepra vaccine: misinterpreted myth. | 2006 | 16445512 | |
| genome-wide scan for loci influencing quantitative immune response traits in the belém family study: comparison of methods and summary of results. | here we report the results from a genome-wide linkage scan to identify genes and chromosomal regions that influence quantitative immune response traits, using multi-case leprosy and tuberculosis families from north-eastern brazil. total plasma ige, antigen-specific igg to mycobacterium leprae soluble antigen (mlsa), m. tuberculosis soluble antigen (mtsa) and m. tuberculosis purified protein derivative (ppd), and antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation (stimulation index or si) and interferon-g ... | 2006 | 16441259 |
| [detection of mycobacterium leprae with the use of the polymerase chain reaction]. | the review deals with the problem of the detection of the causative agent of lepra in different biological samples with the use of polymerase chain reaction. special attention is drawn to the characterization of the specificity and sensitivity of different target areas of m. leprae dna. | 2005 | 16438389 |
| analysis of mycobacterium leprae genome: in silico searching for drug targets. | the author performed a database search to find the recorded complete genes with complete sequences of mycobacterium leprae and studied their homology to human genomes by blast method. from a total of 35 genes, the potential candidates for further target-based drug development were identified. | 2005 | 16438214 |
| infection by mycobacterium leprae of household contacts of lepromatous leprosy patients from a post-elimination leprosy region of colombia. | the leprosy control program of antioquia, (post-elimination leprosy state of colombia), had registered by 1999, 56 lepromatous leprosy patients and their household contacts (hhc). our interest was to detect mycobacterium leprae infection in these hhc. clinical examination, acid-fast bacillary staining (afb) in nasal secretions, and slit skin samples, igm anti-pgl-i in serum and lepromine a (mitsuda) reactivity were tested. two hundred forty eight hhc were studied, 49% were male. after clinical e ... | 2006 | 16410954 |
| presence of mycobacterium leprae in epidermal cells of lepromatous skin and its significance. | a 49-year-old man with lepromatous leprosy treated with dapsone monotherapy for 12 years (1967 to 1979) reported in the hospital in 2003, with relapsed disease. a slit skin smear showed a bacteriological index of 4+. biopsies from skin lesions before and after anti-leprosy therapy showed features of lepromatous leprosy. both biopsies showed unusual features of bacillary clumps in epidermal cells demonstrating clearly that dissemination of m. leprae can take place even through unbroken skin. the ... | 2005 | 16394437 |
| skin to skin transmission of leprosy. | 2005 | 16394427 | |
| comparison of two systems of classification of leprosy based on number of skin lesions and number of body areas involved--a clinicopathological concordance study. | who guidelines classify leprosy patients for therapeutic purposes into paucibacillary (pb) and multibacillary (mb) leprosy based on the number of skin lesions. an alternative system of classification has been in practice in nepal from 1985 onwards, based on the number of body areas involved in patients of leprosy. we attempted a clinicopathological approach for comparison of these two systems of classification in leprosy patients for their ability to demarcate patients into groups of pb and mb l ... | 2005 | 16394354 |
| diagnostic value of in situ polymerase chain reaction in leprosy. | this prospective study was carried out to assess the diagnostic value of in situ polymerase chain reaction in leprosy, particularly in enhancing the histopathological diagnosis. | 2005 | 16388154 |
| roles of lsr2 in colony morphology and biofilm formation of mycobacterium smegmatis. | the lipid-rich cell wall is a defining feature of mycobacterium species. individual cell wall components affect diverse mycobacterial phenotypes including colony morphology, biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance, and virulence. in this study, we describe a transposon insertion mutant of mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 that exhibits altered colony morphology and defects in biofilm formation. the mutation was localized to the lsr2 gene. first identified as an immunodominant t-cell antigen of my ... | 2006 | 16385053 |
| antigen discovery: a postgenomic approach to leprosy diagnosis. | leprosy is an infectious, neurodegenerative disease of humans caused by mycobacterium leprae. despite effective control programs, the incidence of leprosy remains stubbornly high, suggesting that transmission may be more common than expected. the rationale of this work was to use bioinformatics and comparative genomics to identify potentially antigenic proteins for diagnostic purposes. this approach defined three classes of proteins: those restricted to m. leprae (class i), those present in m. l ... | 2006 | 16368971 |
| the global campaign to eliminate leprosy. | 2005 | 16363908 | |
| dihydropteroate synthase mutations in the folp1 gene predict dapsone resistance in relapsed cases of leprosy. | molecular detection was compared with the mouse footpad inoculation test for detection of dapsone resistance in 38 strains of mycobacterium leprae. mutations of the folp1 gene (at codons 53 or 55) were found in 6 of 6 strains with high-level resistance, in 3 of 4 strains with intermediate-level resistance, and in 1 of 6 strains with low-level resistance, but not in 22 dapsone-susceptible strains. in cases of infection with strains of m. leprae carrying the folp1 mutation, therapy with dapsone ma ... | 2006 | 16355335 |
| [some immunological aspects in the reaccional states of hansen disease]. | the crucial clinical problem in leprosy is represented by episodes of intense inflammation that produce nerve damage. when mycobacterium leprae has been eliminated by means of antibiotics, the death of the bacteria is not a complete solution to the damage caused in nerves. two of the more frequent immunopathological phenomena in hansen's disease are type i, reactions, known as reversal reactions (rr), and type ii reactions, of which the most frequent and well known are those called erythema nodo ... | 2005 | 16353545 |
| a study on the impact of fd-mdt on 200 leprosy patients. | a study was carried out from june 1999 to june 2001 to assess the impact of fixed duration multidrug therapy (fd-mdt) in newly detected cases of leprosy in terms of clinical and neurological improvement and changes in the bacillary index of skin smear for afb. 200 new leprosy cases (both pb & mb) were started on fd-mdt. of these 200 cases, 16 were of pure neuritic leprosy. after treatment, out of 184 cases with typical skin lesions of leprosy, all 26 pb cases showed inactivity of skin lesions, a ... | 2005 | 16353520 |
| identification of specific proteins and peptides in mycobacterium leprae suitable for the selective diagnosis of leprosy. | diagnosis of leprosy is a major obstacle to disease control and has been compromised in the past due to the lack of specific reagents. we have used comparative genome analysis to identify genes that are specific to mycobacterium leprae and tested both recombinant proteins and synthetic peptides from a subset of these for immunological reactivity. four unique recombinant proteins (ml0008, ml0126, ml1057, and ml2567) and a panel of 58 peptides (15 and 9 mer) were tested for ifn-gamma responses in ... | 2005 | 16339528 |
| expression of nine-banded armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus) interleukin-2 in e. coli. | the nine-banded armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus) is the only immunologically intact animal that regularly develops lepromatous-type leprosy when inoculated with mycobacterium leprae. however, the ability to exploit this model for understanding the pathogenesis of leprosy has been limited by a lack of suitable immunological reagents. recently, efforts began to sequence the entire armadillo genome, and this sequence information will help make possible the development of a wide array of new immunol ... | 2005 | 16338142 |
| leprosy in malaysia. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease and is still a public health problem in malaysia. in 1926, the leper enactment act was established which required compulsory notification and isolation of leprosy patients. as a result, the national leprosy control centre (nlcc) was built in sungai buloh, selangor. in 1969, the national leprosy control programme was launched with the objective of early case finding and decentralisation of treatment of leprosy. the treatment of leprosy patients is integrate ... | 1994 | 16329568 |
| detection of neuropathy due to mycobacterium leprae using noninvasive neurosensory testing of susceptible peripheral nerves. | the prevalence of disability in patients with hansen disease is related to peripheral nerve dysfunction. this dysfunction, which is due to chronic nerve compression, is the result of invasion of the peripheral nerve by mycobacteria leprae. this suggests that early identification of m. leprae would be aided by detection of early stages of peripheral nerve compression. traditional evaluation of peripheral nerve function with monofilaments, electrodiagnostic testing, or by observing motor palsy or ... | 2005 | 16327466 |
| leprosy: contribution of mast cells to epineurial collagenization. | leprosy, a disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, is an important health problem worldwide. it is responsible for an irreversible nerve damage in which fibrosis plays an important role. the existence of an interaction between mast cells and different fibrotic conditions has long been observed. tryptase, the most abundant protein product of human mast cells, has been shown to be mitogenic for fibroblasts and to increase type i collagen production. | 2005 | 16320824 |
| pure neural leprosy: diagnostic value of the polymerase chain reaction. | pure neural leprosy (pnl) is often difficult to diagnose when acid-fast bacilli (afb) cannot be detected. we undertook the present study to evaluate use of the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) in diagnosing pnl. fifty-eight patients (41 men and 17 women) suspected of pure neural leprosy (pnl) were examined. patients were classified as borderline tuberculoid (bt, 40 cases) and polar tuberculoid (tt, 18 cases) types. nerve biopsy was performed and was positive for afb in 20 patients (all bt patient ... | 2006 | 16315323 |
| inferring the pattern of spontaneous mutation from the pattern of substitution in unitary pseudogenes of mycobacterium leprae and a comparison of mutation patterns among distantly related organisms. | the pattern of spontaneous mutation can be inferred from the pattern of substitution in pseudogenes, which are known to be under very weak or no selective constraint. we modified an existing method (gojobori t, et al., j mol evol 18:360, 1982) to infer the pattern of mutation in bacteria by using 569 pseudogenes from mycobacterium leprae. in gojobori et al.'s method, the pattern is inferred by using comparisons involving a pseudogene, a conspecific functional paralog, and an outgroup functional ... | 2005 | 16315108 |
| the rv0805 gene from mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes a 3',5'-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase: biochemical and mutational analysis. | mycobacterium tuberculosis is an important human pathogen and has developed sophisticated mechanisms to evade the host immune system. these could involve the use of cyclic nucleotide-dependent signaling systems, since the m. tuberculosis genome encodes a large number of functional adenylyl cyclases. using bioinformatic approaches, we identify, clone, and biochemically characterize the rv0805 gene product, the first cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase identified in m. tuberculosis and a homologue ... | 2005 | 16313172 |
| nitric oxide scavenging by mycobacterium leprae glbo involves the formation of the ferric heme-bound peroxynitrite intermediate. | ferrous oxygenated (fe(ii)o2) hemoglobins (hb's) and myoglobins (mb's) have been shown to react very rapidly with no, yielding no3(-) and the ferric heme-protein derivative (fe(iii)), by means of the ferric heme-bound peroxynitrite intermediate (fe(iii)oono), according to the minimum reaction scheme: fe(ii)o2 + no (k(on))--> fe(iii)oono (h)--> fe(iii) + no3(-). for most hb's and mb's, the first step (indicated by k(on)) is rate limiting, the overall reaction following a bimolecular behavior. by ... | 2006 | 16307730 |
| genetic, household and spatial clustering of leprosy on an island in indonesia: a population-based study. | it is generally accepted that genetic factors play a role in susceptibility to both leprosy per se and leprosy type, but only few studies have tempted to quantify this. estimating the contribution of genetic factors to clustering of leprosy within families is difficult since these persons often share the same environment. the first aim of this study was to test which correlation structure (genetic, household or spatial) gives the best explanation for the distribution of leprosy patients and sero ... | 2005 | 16307680 |
| hijacking the erk signaling pathway: mycobacterium leprae shuns mek to drive the proliferation of infected schwann cells. | schwann cells are the target of mycobacterium leprae, the pathogen responsible for leprosy. once inside the cell, m. leprae activates the host's proliferative machinery, thereby increasing the number of cells susceptible to infection. this astonishing manipulation of the mammalian cell cycle is the subject of recent work by tapinos and rambukkana, who show that m. leprae drives proliferation through a novel route to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (erk). in this perspective, we discuss thi ... | 2005 | 16278488 |
| [serological tests in the diagnosis of tuberculosis]. | 2005 | 16276690 | |
| immunomodulation and protection induced by dna-hsp65 vaccination in an animal model of arthritis. | we described a prophylactic and therapeutic effect of a dna vaccine encoding the mycobacterium leprae 65-kda heat shock protein (dna-hsp65) in experimental murine tuberculosis. however, high homology of the vaccine to the corresponding mammalian hsp60, together with the cpg motifs in the plasmidial vector, could trigger or exacerbate an autoimmune disease. in the present study, we evaluate the potential of dna-hsp65 vaccination to induce or modulate arthritis in mice genetically selected for acu ... | 2005 | 16259568 |
| clinical, histopathological and bacteriological study of 52 referral mb cases relapsing after mdt. | fifty-two bb-ll relapse cases referred to our centre during 1997-2003 were investigated in detail. twenty-four cases had been treated with extended mb-mdt [until smear negativity (non-fdt)]. the remaining 28 cases (54%) had received one of the fixed duration regimens (fdt), of whom 11 had 24 months and 6 had 12 months of who mb-mdt. eleven cases had received rifampicin/ofloxacin (ro) treatment. follow-up slit skin smear reports were available for 41 cases, all but three cases had been smear nega ... | 2005 | 16248211 |
| role of pgl-i antibody detection in the diagnosis of pure neural leprosy. | pure neural leprosy (pnl) is difficult to diagnose because skin lesions and acid-fast bacilli (afb) in slit smears are absent. at present, the gold standard for pnl diagnosis is the histopathological examination of a peripheral nerve biopsy. even so, detection of bacteria is difficult and histological findings may be non-specific. furthermore, nerve biopsy is an invasive procedure that is only possible in specialized centres. therefore, there is a need for additional diagnostic methods that may ... | 2005 | 16248210 |
| leprosy in wild armadillos. | wild nine-banded armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus) in the south central united states are highly endemic natural hosts of mycobacterium leprae. surveys conducted over the last 30 years on more than 5000 animals confirm that the infection is present among armadillos in arkansas, louisiana, mississippi and texas. highest prevalence rates are found among the animals in low-lying alluvial and coastal areas, primarily in louisiana and texas. both animal density and local factors may contribute to the ... | 2005 | 16248207 |
| first report of leprosy presenting as acute polyarthritis in the setting of type i downgrading lepra reaction. | leprosy is a rare cause of acute polyarthritis. we describe the occurrence of oedema of the hands and feet and acute polyarthritis in the setting of type i (downgrading) lepra reaction in an untreated patient with borderline leprosy. this case report further expands the range of articular manifestations that can occur in leprosy. | 2006 | 16247582 |
| vaccination with a sindbis virus-based dna vaccine expressing antigen 85b induces protective immunity against mycobacterium tuberculosis. | to improve dna vaccination against mycobacterium tuberculosis, we evaluated the effectiveness of a sindbis virus-based dna construct expressing the tuberculosis antigen 85b (sin85b). the protective efficacy of sin85b was initially assessed by aerogenically challenging immunized c57bl/6 mice with virulent mycobacterium tuberculosis. at 1 and 7 months postinfection, the lung bacterial burdens were considerably reduced and the lung pathology was improved in vaccinated mice compared to naive control ... | 2005 | 16239577 |
| the "domino theory" of gene death: gradual and mass gene extinction events in three lineages of obligate symbiotic bacterial pathogens. | during the adaptation of an organism to a parasitic lifestyle, various gene functions may be rendered superfluous due to the fact that the host may supply these needs. as a consequence, obligate symbiotic bacterial pathogens tend to undergo reductive genomic evolution through gene death (nonfunctionalization or pseudogenization) and deletion. here, we examine the evolutionary sequence of gene-death events during the process of genome miniaturization in three bacterial species that have experienc ... | 2006 | 16237210 |
| same-sex mating and the origin of the vancouver island cryptococcus gattii outbreak. | genealogy can illuminate the evolutionary path of important human pathogens. in some microbes, strict clonal reproduction predominates, as with the worldwide dissemination of mycobacterium leprae, the cause of leprosy. in other pathogens, sexual reproduction yields clones with novel attributes, for example, enabling the efficient, oral transmission of the parasite toxoplasma gondii. however, the roles of clonal or sexual propagation in the origins of many other microbial pathogen outbreaks remai ... | 2005 | 16222245 |
| cytokines and mycobacterium leprae induce apoptosis in human schwann cells. | the development of deformities during the course of leprosy disease is a major public health concern worldwide. it is possible that cytokine production and apoptosis of schwann cells (scs) directly affect nerve degeneration and regeneration leading to injury of the myelin sheath and axon. in the present study, the expression of tnfalpha, tgfbeta, and their receptors, in addition to cell death triggered by cytokines or whole mycobacterium leprae were investigated in a human sc line. the results s ... | 2005 | 16215460 |
| allergic sensitisation in tuberculosis and leprosy patients. | a negative association has been observed between infections and allergy in several studies. the aim of the present study was to examine whether tuberculosis and leprosy patients have more or fewer allergies than healthy individuals. | 2005 | 16210860 |
| diversity of potential short tandem repeats in mycobacterium leprae and application for molecular typing. | a recent advance in molecular typing for tracing the transmission of leprosy is the discovery of short tandem repeats (strs) in mycobacterium leprae. to substantiate polymorphic loci from str as promising candidates for molecular typing tools in leprosy epidemiology, 44 str loci including 33 microsatellites and 11 minisatellites were investigated among 27 laboratory strains by sequencing pcr products. not all strs were necessarily polymorphic. thirty-two out of the 44 loci were polymorphic. nine ... | 2005 | 16207987 |
| hiv and leprosy in the eastern united states. | 2005 | 16206087 | |
| neurological manifestations of hansen's disease and their management. | hansen's disease is almost eliminated from developed countries but in developing countries of africa, asia and latin america leprosy is still considered to be a public health problem. mycobacterium leprae have the affinity for peripheral nerves and neuropathy is a cardinal manifestation of the disease. the nerve damage affects sensory, motor, and autonomic fibers resulting in the physical impairments and limitation of physical activities and social participation. leprosy is a curable disease and ... | 2005 | 16202816 |
| identification and characterization of an immunogenic 22 kda exported protein of mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. | an exported 22 kda putative lipoprotein was identified in an alkaline phosphatase gene fusion library of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and expressed in mycobacterium smegmatis. the full nucleic acid sequence of the gene encoding p22 was determined and the orf was cloned into a mycobacterial expression vector, enabling full-length p22 to be produced as a c-terminal polyhistidine-tagged protein in m. smegmatis. n-terminal sequencing of the recombinant protein confirmed cleavage of a ... | 2005 | 16192441 |
| genetic polymorphism among mycobacterium leprae strains from northern india, by using ttc repeats. | 2005 | 16173423 | |
| a recessive major gene controls the mitsuda reaction in a region endemic for leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. the mitsuda reaction is a delayed granulomatous skin reaction elicited by intradermal injection of heat-killed m. leprae. interestingly, results of the mitsuda test are positive in the majority of individuals, even in areas not endemic for m. leprae. like leprosy, the mitsuda reaction is thought to be genetically controlled, but its mode of inheritance is unknown, although the role of the nramp1 gene has previously been repo ... | 2005 | 16170767 |
| rifapentine, moxifloxacin, or dna vaccine improves treatment of latent tuberculosis in a mouse model. | priorities for developing improved regimens for treatment of latent tuberculosis (tb) infection include (1) developing shorter and/or more intermittently administered regimens that are easier to supervise and (2) developing and evaluating regimens that are active against multidrug-resistant organisms. | 2005 | 16151038 |
| [a role of polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of leprosy]. | 2005 | 16130429 | |
| the dimycocerosate ester polyketide virulence factors of mycobacteria. | recent advances in the study of mycobacterial lipids indicate that the class of outer membrane lipids known as dimycocerosate esters (dims) are major virulence factors of clinically relevant mycobacteria including mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae. dims are a structurally intriguing class of polyketide synthase-derived wax esters discovered over seventy years ago, yet, little was known until recently about their biosynthesis. availability of several mycobacterial genomes has ac ... | 2005 | 16115688 |
| postgenomic approach to identify novel mycobacterium leprae antigens with potential to improve immunodiagnosis of infection. | early detection of mycobacterium leprae infection is considered an important component of strategies aiming at reducing transmission of infection, but currently available diagnostic tools often lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity to reach this goal. recent comparative genomics have revealed the presence of 165 m. leprae genes with no homologue in m. tuberculosis. we selected 17 of these genes for further study. all 17 genes were found to be expressed at the mrna level in m. leprae from i ... | 2005 | 16113281 |
| [diagnostic tests: mycobacterium leprae]. | 2005 | 16111215 | |
| mycobacterium leprae induces nf-kappab-dependent transcription repression in human schwann cells. | mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, invades peripheral nerve schwann cells, resulting in deformities associated with this disease. nf-kappab is an important transcription factor involved in the regulation of host immune antimicrobial responses. we aimed in this work to investigate nf-kappab signaling pathways in the human st88-14 schwannoma cell line infected with m. leprae. gel shift and supershift assays indicate that two nf-kappab dimers, p65/p50 and p50/p50, translocate to ... | 2005 | 16055086 |
| borderline tuberculoid leprosy localised over a scar. | 2005 | 16044818 |