Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| differing antibody igg isotypes in the polar forms of leprosy and cutaneous leishmaniasis characterized by antigen-specific t cell anergy. | leprosy and american cutaneous leishmaniasis are tropical diseases which present a spectrum of clinical and immunological manifestations. lepromatous leprosy and diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis are the severe, progressive polar forms of disease characterized by persistent t cell anergy. relative concentrations of antibodies belonging to the four igg isotypes have been determined in these forms of disease as well as active visceral leishmaniasis, which presents transitory t cell anergy. leishmani ... | 1995 | 7697923 |
| tumour necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-alpha) synthesis is associated with the skin and peripheral nerve pathology of leprosy reversal reactions. | leprosy may be complicated by episodes of increased cell-mediated immunity towards mycobacterium leprae (reversal reactions) which result in severe local immunopathology in skin lesions and peripheral nerves. using in situ hybridization and moab techniques we have demonstrated tnf-alpha mrna and tnf-alpha protein in macrophages infiltrating leprosy skin and peripheral nerve. levels of tnf-alpha mrna are significantly increased in reactional skin and nerve, particularly in borderline tuberculoid ... | 1995 | 7851011 |
| il-7 in the cell-mediated immune response to a human pathogen. | the goal of the present study was to investigate the role of il-7 in regulating immune responses to infection. leprosy provides a model for understanding human immune responses to infection; the disease presents as a spectrum in which the clinical manifestations correlate with the levels of cell-mediated immunity to the pathogen, mycobacterium leprae. to determine whether il-7 is produced at the site of infection in leprosy, we used the pcr to measure il-7 and il-7r mrna in skin lesions. il-7 mr ... | 1995 | 7876548 |
| x-ray structure analysis of the iron-dependent superoxide dismutase from mycobacterium tuberculosis at 2.0 angstroms resolution reveals novel dimer-dimer interactions. | the x-ray structure of the tetrameric iron-dependent superoxide dismutase from mycobacterium tuberculosis has been refined to an r-factor of 0.167 and a correlation coefficient of 0.954 at 2.0 a resolution. the crystals are monoclinic p2(1) and have four subunits related by strong non-crystallographic 222 (or d2) symmetry in the asymmetric unit. 198 of the 207 amino acids of each subunit are defined by the electron density which shows that they adopt the conserved fold of other iron- or manganes ... | 1995 | 7877174 |
| an improved method for the species-specific assessment of mycobacteria in routinely formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues. | a polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay for the rapid and species-specific diagnosis of mycobacterial infections in paraffin-embedded clinical specimens was developed using oligonucleotide primers to amplify a fragment of the dna coding for the ribosomal 16s rna of mycobacteria. the oligonucleotide primers amplified dna from all 14 species of mycobacteria tested. by means of a reamplification protocol, as few as one to two mycobacteria could be detected in the presence of human dna. the method o ... | 1995 | 7891231 |
| leprosy. | 1995 | 8521365 | |
| leprosy in five human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. | we present five cases of leprosy in five human immunodeficiency virus-positive individuals. the patients were five men between the ages of 18 and 45 years. the five patients presented with skin lesions; three patients with hypopigmented skin lesions, one with skin macules and a history of leprosy, and one with papular lesions. in one patient, there was bilateral "claw hands." histologically, two cases were categorized as lepromatous leprosy, two as borderline tuberculoid, and one as borderline l ... | 1995 | 8532702 |
| arylsulphatase from alteromonas carrageenovora. | arylsulphatase activity was identified in cultures of the marine bacterium alteromonas carrageenovora, using methylumbelliferyl sulphate as substrate. in contrast with most other microbial arylsulphatases, arylsulphatase production in a. carrageenovora was not repressed by sulphate. the structural gene of arylsulphatase (atsa) was cloned and sequenced. an orf of 984 bp was found, specifying a primary translation product of 328 amino acids with a molecular mass of 35797 da. arylsulphatase was par ... | 1995 | 8535517 |
| evaluation of the mycobacterium leprae particle agglutination (mlpa) test as a tool in the epidemiology of leprosy in high prevalence village in south sulawesi, indonesia. | this study reports on the usefulness of an igm phenolic glycolipid-1 (pgl-1) mycobacterium leprae particle agglutination (mlpa) test for serodiagnosis of leprosy in a prospective longitudinal community survey in a high prevalence village in south sulawesi, indonesia, igm pgl-1 mlpa has simple and limited value as a screening method for detection of transmission of leprosy in the community. many normal persons in the community in a high prevalence area had increased igm anti pgl-1 antibodies, pre ... | 1995 | 9139365 |
| humoral immunity in hansen's disease. | for many years immune response in leprosy has been studied. since 1960 several reports dealing with humoral immunity have been described in the literature. different autoantibody rates occur in leprosy. there is an increase in the prevalence of autoantibodies in elderly patients with long standing disease, in lepromatous leprosy and in those with reactional states. the differences in rates among various studies are attributed to different methods and variations among patient samples concerning a ... | 1995 | 8729870 |
| immunohistochemical study of cutaneous neuritis in positive lepromin reactions. | sixty skin biopsies taken from positive tuberculoid and borderline-tuberculoid late lepromin reaction were studied using histological techniques. the distribution of mycobacterial antigen and nerves was demonstrated using immunochemical methods. a total of 557 nerve bundles was observed in 51 biopsies; 9 were devoid of nerves in the sections examined; 475 nerve bundles showed some relationship to the inflammatory infiltrate (85%); perineuritis being seen in 144 (30%) and endoneuritis in 5 (0.9%) ... | 1995 | 8637381 |
| extended studies on the viability of mycobacterium leprae outside the human body. | very little is known in leprosy regarding the transmission of the infection from the source to the susceptible host. one of the important factors which governs the transmission of the disease is the viability of mycobacterium leprae outside the human body. in this study m. leprae obtained from untreated patients have been subjected to several adverse conditions. their viability was verified by their multiplication in the footpads of normal mice. after drying in the shade the organisms were viabl ... | 1995 | 8637382 |
| detection of iga anti-pgl-i specific antigen to mycobacterium leprae in mangabey monkeys inoculated with m. leprae. | using sera from 4 pairs of mangabey monkeys inoculated with titrated doses of mycobacterium leprae we demonstrated that iga antibodies against m. leprae specific pgl-i antigen were present in 75% of inoculated monkey's sera. high iga antibody was detected in 50% (3/6) of infected animals and all three developed lepromatous leprosy (ll). antibody titers correlated with pgl-i antigen in serum. the highest iga peak appeared late and corresponded to the beginning of treatment, and in two of them app ... | 1995 | 8637383 |
| cd4+ t-cell responses to recombinant hsp65 and hsp18 of m. leprae and their trypsin-digested fragments in leprosy: diversity in hla-dr restriction. | mycobacterium leprae heat-shock proteins hsp65 and hsp18 have received immense attention as major t-cell target antigens in leprosy. both of these hsps and their tryptic fragments were characterized for their ability to stimulate cd4+ t cells derived from polar leprosy cases and healthy contacts. the optimal digestion of hsps with trypsin yielded four fragments of hsp65--tdb65-1 (24 kda), tdb65-2 (18 kda), tdb65-3 (17 kda), tdb65-4 (14 kda)-- and three of hsp18--tdb18-1 (10 kda), tdb18-2 (5 kda) ... | 1995 | 8642214 |
| study on the roles of cd4+ and cd8+ t cells in the expression of host resistance to mycobacterium leprae infection induced in athymic nude mice. | the contribution of cd4+ or cd8+ t cells in the host resistance to mycobacterium leprae was investigated. athymic balb/c nude mice were infected subcutaneously with m. leprae into the foot pads 1 or 3 weeks after adoptive transfer with whole, cd4 t cell-depleted, or cd8 t cell-depleted lymphocyte fractions prepared from spleen cells (spcs) of euthymic balb/c mice. spcs from all of the recipient mice showed nearly the same levels of proliferative responses to phytohemagglutinin (pha) and lipopoly ... | 1995 | 8642217 |
| immune response of armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus). i. use of lectins to identify lymphocyte subpopulations and to evaluate cell proliferation. | lectins have been used to study populations and discrete differentiation stages of lymphocytes. likewise, lectins have been of practical importance in promoting mitogenic stimulation of lymphocytes in numerous species. in this research project, we took advantage of these tools in an attempt to identify specific subsets of peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from healthy nine-banded armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus). the same cell source served to evaluate mitogenic stimulation. twelve fitc-lab ... | 1995 | 8642218 |
| antileprosy vaccine; an apprehension. | 1995 | 8642223 | |
| regarding analysis of vaccines. | 1995 | 8642226 | |
| antimicrobial agent resistance in mycobacteria: molecular genetic insights. | the primary theme emerging from molecular genetic work conducted with mycobacterium tuberculosis and several other mycobacterial species is that resistance is commonly associated with simple nucleotide alterations in target chromosomal genes rather than with acquisition of new genetic elements encoding antibiotic-altering enzymes. mutations in an 81-bp region of the gene (rpob) encoding the beta subunit of rna polymerase account for rifampin resistance in 96% of m. tuberculosis and many mycobact ... | 1995 | 8665467 |
| development of a mucosal challenge test for leprosy using leprosin a. | there is little information about the mucosal immune response in leprosy. we have developed a nasal provocation test with leprosin a which will be used to investigate mucosal immunity to mycobacterium leprae. initial studies were performed with increasing doses of leprosin a (1.0 pg/ml-10 micrograms/ml) to determine the optimal safe dose of leprosin a. anti-m. leprae iga antibody and normal iga concentrations were measured in the saliva of leprosy contacts and controls before and after instillat ... | 1995 | 8551052 |
| [immunohistochemical study on temporal bone of autopsy cases with mycobacterium leprae infection]. | three temporal bones were obtained en bloc from autopsy cases with lepromatous leprosy from the middle cranial fossa side after removing the brain. after fixation with 10% formalin followed by sufficient decalcification, the specimens were embedded in paraffin en bloc and cut serially to stain every 10th section with hematoxylin and eosin (h&e) for anatomical orientation. an immunohistochemical study with anti-neurofilament, anti-mbp (myelin basic protein), anti-bcg (bacillus calmette-gue'rin) a ... | 1995 | 8551377 |
| new vaccines against tuberculosis. | it has proved difficult to vaccinate effectively against tuberculosis with mycobacterial components or even with whole dead mycobacteria; protection was always inferior to that obtained with the live attenuated vaccine known as bacillus calmette-guérin (bcg). we have found that this may no longer be the case. expression of the gene for a single mycobacterial antigen (mycobacterium leprae hsp65) in adult balb/c mice resulted in substantial cell-mediated protection against challenge with m. tuberc ... | 1995 | 8555985 |
| protection against tuberculosis by bone marrow cells expressing mycobacterial hsp65. | although mice acquire only a slight degree of protection against tuberculosis by immunization with mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae) hsp65 in incomplete freund's adjuvant, protection is substantial following immunization by injection with j774 macrophage-like tumour cells that express the protein from the mycobacterial gene via a retroviral vector. we here took the same vector, used it to transfect the gene into normal murine bone marrow cells in vitro, and then used the transfected cells to reco ... | 1995 | 8567015 |
| nucleotide sequence analysis and seroreactivities of the 65k heat shock protein from mycobacterium paratuberculosis. | mycobacterium paratuberculosis is the causative agent of johne's disease, a chronic enteritis in ruminants. it has also been implicated as a possible cause of crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology. the mycobacterial 65k heat shock proteins (hsp-65k) are among the most extensively studied mycobacterial proteins, and their immunogenic characteristics have been suggested to be the basis for autoimmunization in chronic inflammatory diseases. in this context, we isolated ... | 1995 | 8574825 |
| study on nude mice inoculated with mycobacterium leprae by multiple routes. | immune-deficient nude mice were inoculated with nude mouse derived mycobacterium leprae by multiple routes (intravenously, subcutaneously at the foot pads and ears). the results showed that these inoculated animals were capable of producing a great number of mycobacterium leprae to a level 10 per gram of tissue and were detected histopathologically to have heavy lepromatous lesions. the dissemination of the infection was found particularly in sites with lower body temperature. the organisms have ... | 1995 | 8580487 |
| [infection and cytokine]. | 1995 | 8582875 | |
| [leprosy and vaccine]. | 1995 | 8582876 | |
| [heat shock protein and immunity]. | 1995 | 8582878 | |
| [present and future in leprosy research]. | 1995 | 8582879 | |
| [uveitis in leprosy patients]. | we examined 24 dermatologically cured leprosy patients with ongoing uveitis (uv+) and 22 age and type matched controls (uv-) to study the late phase leprous uv. all patients have been skin smear negative for more than 10 years. the history of chemotherapy, 5 years before and after a accomplishing bacterial negativity, was evaluated and represented by "score". it was found that anti-pgl-i and anti-lam-b antibodies were significantly higher in uv+ group compared to the controls. the mean score of ... | 1995 | 8582882 |
| [intraepidermal mass of m. leprae in a case of seborrheic keratosis due to hansen's disease (lls)]. | a 67-year-old patient has had exanthema in the lower right limb since 51 years ago (16 years old at onset), which underwent repeated remission and recurrence. at present, he has bilateral symmetrical widespread infiltrating exanthema and asymmetrical marked neuralhypertrophy, and has been diagnosed typical lls (his father had the same disease). the exanthema recurred several years ago, and the patient is being treated for hansen's disease. he had a dark brown flat elevation with a rough surface ... | 1995 | 8582883 |
| cloning and expression of the mycobacterium fortuitum superoxide dismutase gene. | in this paper we report the cloning, sequencing and expression of the superoxide dismutase (sod) gene from mycobacterium fortuitum. a single gene was found to code for superoxide dismutase activity with its identity being confirmed by expression in m. aurum. the amino acid sequence was found to be similar to that of superoxide dismutases of several other origins. a region downstream of the sod gene also showed similarities to the corresponding sequences of the two main mycobacterial pathogens: m ... | 1995 | 8586279 |
| the contribution of slippage-like processes to genome evolution. | simple sequences present in long (> 30 kb) sequences representative of the single-copy genome of five species (homo sapiens, caenorhabditis elegans, saccharomyces cerevisiae, e. coli, and mycobacterium leprae) have been analyzed. a close relationship was observed between genome size and the overall level of sequence repetition. this suggested that the incorporation of simple sequences had accompanied increases of genome size during evolution. densities of simple sequence motifs were higher in no ... | 1995 | 8587102 |
| [the problem of resistance in the treatment of mycobacterium infections: new experimental results and combinations for the treatment of tuberculosis and leprosy]. | 1995 | 8592712 | |
| mycobacterium tuberculosis is a natural mutant with an inactivated oxidative-stress regulatory gene: implications for sensitivity to isoniazid. | the systems participating in detoxification of reactive oxygen intermediates in mycobacterium tuberculosis are believed to play a dual role in the biology of this highly adapted human pathogen: (i) they may contribute to the survival of this bacterium in the host; and (ii) alterations in the gene encoding catalase/peroxidase have been linked to this organism's resistance to the front-line antituberculosis drug isoniazid. these relationships prompted us to extend investigations of the oxidative-s ... | 1995 | 8596438 |
| green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression and cell biology of mycobacterial interactions with macrophages. | the green fluorescent protein (gfp) of the jellyfish aequorea victoria offers certain advantages over other bioluminescence systems because no exogenously added substrate or co-factors are necessary, and fluorescence can be elicited by irradiation with blue light without exposing the cells producing gfp to invasive treatments. a mycobacterial shuttle-plasmid vector carrying gfp cdna was constructed and used to generate transcriptional fusions with promoters of interest and to examine their expre ... | 1995 | 8596439 |
| the hamster cheek pouch: an immunologically privileged site suitable to the study of granulomatous infections. | the hamster cheek pouch is an invagination of oral mucosa, characterized histologically as skin-like. in this paper we describe anatomical, histological and embriological features of the pouch and comment on the pouch as an immunologically privileged site since it lacks lymphatic drainage and has few langerhans cells. we present the review from literature and our observations after inoculation in the pouch of mycobacteriae (bcg, mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae) and a fungus ( ... | 1995 | 8599058 |
| analysis of the immunological humoral response to mycobacterium tuberculosis glycolipid antigens (dat, pgltb1) for diagnosis of tuberculosis in hiv-seropositive and -seronegative patients. | using an enzyme immunoassay (eia) test, the concentrations of igg antibodies against 2,3 diacyl trehalose (dat) and phenolic glycolipid tb1 (pgltb1) were measured in the sera of 153 patients with active tuberculosis, 50 of whom were coinfected with hiv, and in the sera of 152 healthy blood donors, 149 asymptomatic hiv-seropositive patients, 12 hiv-seronegative patients with conditions simulating tuberculosis, 23 hiv-seropositive patients with disseminated infection caused by mycobacteria other t ... | 1995 | 8605902 |
| immunological and functional characterization of mycobacterium leprae protein antigens: an overview. | a major focus of leprosy research in the last 10 years has been the identification and characterization of antigens of mycobacterium leprae that interact with antibodies and t cells of the host's immune response. through the combined efforts of many different laboratories, a substantial number of protein antigens have been identified and characterized. in this microreview we present an updated list of m. leprae protein antigens, and, with emphasis on recent developments, summarize what is known ... | 1995 | 8825083 |
| [contemporary problems in the epidemiology and clinical pathology of leprosy]. | contemporary problems have been presented, related to pathogenesis, clinical pathology and epidemiology of leprosy. it has been stressed that intensity of cell mediated immune response in the patient determines not only resistance or susceptibility to infection with mycobacterium leprae but also defines traits of clinical pathology in leprosy, thus providing the basis for modern clinical classification. present aims and investigative methods in lepra epidemiology have been shown. current data ha ... | 1995 | 8834501 |
| in vitro activity of levofloxacin, singly and in combination with rifamycin analogs, against mycobacterium leprae. | the in vitro susceptibility of mycobacterium leprae to levofloxacin was studied by using two biochemical parameters to measure the metabolic activity of the organism. levofloxacin consistently exhibited twofold greater bactericidal activity than ofloxacin, with the mic being 0.75 microgram/ml. when combined with one of the three rifamycin analogs, synergism was obtained with krm-1648 and rifabutin but not with rifampin. | 1995 | 8540726 |
| isolation and characterization of the genes of pathogenic mycobacteria that express antigens for t cell reactivity. | tuberculosis and leprosy are caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, respectively. identification and characterization of the genes expressing proteins that stimulate th1-type cells is required to understand the mechanisms involved in protection from mycobacterial diseases. we isolated several recombinant genes from recombinant dna libraries that expressed antigens recognized by well-characterized monoclonal antibodies. we first used these isolated recombinants to show tha ... | 1995 | 8748244 |
| recognition of mycobacterial hsp65 in association with hla-dr4 is not sufficient for autoreactivity. | the mycobacterial heat shock protein 65, class ii major histocompatibility complex molecule hla-dr4, and t cells have been implicated in autoimmunity. however, there has been no direct demonstration of the recognition of the heat shock protein 65 by t cells in association with hla-dr4. in this study, we established t cell lines and a large number of t cell clones from healthy subjects vaccinated with killed mycobacteria. among these subjects, three were hla-dr4 positive, and the t cell lines and ... | 1995 | 8748246 |
| clonal dominance and selection for similar complementarity determining region 3 motifs among t lymphocytes responding to the hla-dr3-associated mycobacterium leprae heat shock protein 65-kd peptide 3-13. | in order to establish whether specific mhc class ii-peptide complexes are capable of selecting tcr v regions, we investigated in detail the tcr beta chain used in the recognition of hla-dr3 restricted hsp65 peptide 3-13 in a tuberculoid leprosy patient. using rt-pcr, a clear dominance of the tcrbv5 gene family was observed in a hsp65 peptide 3-13-specific t-cell line; however, not in fresh, unstimulated pbmcs, pha-stimulated pbmcs, or a t-cell line specific for tetanus toxoid. dna sequence analy ... | 1995 | 8770635 |
| il12 and the human immune response to mycobacteria. | 1995 | 8839157 | |
| effect of t-cell depletion on bacterial multiplication and pattern of nerve damage in m. leprae-infected mice. | various mechanisms for nerve damage in tuberculoid leprosy have been proposed. a common feature amongst them is the crucial role played by t-cells. therefore, the present study was designed to determine the role of t-cells in the induction of nerve damage in leprosy using two different protocols for obtaining graded levels of t-cell depletion: (i) cyclosporine a, for depletion of t-helper cells and (ii) anti thy 1.2, for total depletion of t-cells. the findings indicate that the early changes se ... | 1995 | 8849913 |
| in vivo activities of novel benzoxazinorifamycins against mycobacterium leprae. | among the four newly synthesized benzoxazinorifamycin derivatives, krm-1648 and krm-2312 completely inhibited the multiplication of rifampicin-sensitive as well as rifampicin-resistant strains of m. leprae in the foot-pads of mice. both were found to be more potent than rifampicin and were bactericidal. in combination with ofloxacin, another potent bactericidal drug against m. leprae, both krm-1648 and krm-2312 exhibited synergism. thus, combination of one of these benzoxazinorifamycin derivativ ... | 1995 | 8849914 |
| viability of mycobacterium leprae in lepromatous patients after five years of dapsone monotherapy supplemented with two years of multidrug therapy. | eleven lepromatous leprosy (ll) patients with a bacterial index (bi) of three and above who had undergone two years of multidrug therapy (mdt) and yet had positive skin smears at the end of treatment were chosen for this study. biopsies from the skin and lymphnodes were histopathologically evaluated for the presence of granulomas and m. leprae. m. leprae isolated from the skin and lymphnodes were inoculated into the foot-pads of normal mice to test their viability. on histopathological examinati ... | 1995 | 8849919 |
| staining of m.leprae by carbol-fuchsin prepared in different solvents. | 1995 | 8849925 | |
| recombination in mycobacteria. | mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (tb) is thought to infect a quarter of the world's population and accounts for 3 million deaths each year. leprosy, caused by mycobacterium leprae continues to afflict millions. in many countries, the incidence of tb is increasing due to its association with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (aids) and the emergence of multidrug resistance strains of tubercle bacilli. genes that encode major antigens, enzymes, potential virulence ... | 1996 | 8858576 |
| characterization of the fibronectin-attachment protein of mycobacterium avium reveals a fibronectin-binding motif conserved among mycobacteria. | mycobacterium avium is an intracellular pathogen and a major opportunistic infectious agent observed in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (aids). evidence suggests that the initial portal of infection by m. avium is often the gastrointestinal tract. however, the mechanism by which the m. avium crosses the epithelial barrier is unclear. a possible mechanism is suggested by the ability of m. avium to bind fibronectin, an extracellular matrix protein that is a virulence factor for s ... | 1996 | 8858587 |
| primary dapsone resistance in cebu, the philippines; cause for concern. | at a time when primary dapsone resistance was prevalent in many leprosy endemic areas, cebu in the philippines reported only 3.6% in the period 1975-1978 and later 8.1% in the period 1979-1982. in our current study of patients in the period 1988-1992, the number increased dramatically to 52.7%. in addition, 7.9% of the isolates are highly resistant to dapsone, a level of resistance not seen in earlier studies. this finding could have severe ramifications to the world health organization's multid ... | 1996 | 8862258 |
| restoration of proliferative response to m. leprae antigens in lepromatous t cells against candidate antileprosy vaccines. | several studies conducted in the last decade suggest that mycobacterium lepraereactive t cells exist in lepromatous patients, but their number may be too few to yield a detectable response in cell-mediated immunity (cmi) assays. immunizations with candidate antileprosy vaccines and stimulation of t cells with m. leprae + interleukin-2 restore the m. leprae-induced cmi response in lepromatous leprosy patients. these immunizations and stimulation may enrich the pre-existing m. leprae-responsive t ... | 1996 | 8862259 |
| effect of rhuifn-gamma treatment in multibacillary leprosy patients. | previous studies have shown that when multibacillary leprosy patients were treated with recombinant human interferon gamma (rhuifn-gamma) for 6-10 months there was an accelerated reduction in the number of acid-fast bacilli in the skin at the site of injection as well as an accelerated bacillary reduction at distal sites. however, this favorable out-come of ifn-gamma treatment was associated with the development of erythema nodosum leprosum (enl). the present study was undertaken to investigate ... | 1996 | 8862260 |
| microbial colonizers in leprosy skin ulcers and intensity of inflammation. | the microflora of 55 patients with leprosy skin ulcers was studied and related to a weighted inflammatory score (is). the control group consisted of 18 ulcers with different underlying pathology. leprosy ulcers were characterized by the exclusive presence of two types of branching gram-positive rods; a particular interesting proposal is that mycobacterium leprae share common antigens with these unusual "leprosy ulcer associated" organisms and group g beta-hemolytic streptococci. in the leprosy g ... | 1996 | 8862261 |
| investigation of anti-mycobacterium leprae antibodies in leprosy patients' sera by an a60 antigen immunoassay. | 1996 | 8862270 | |
| antibodies to phenolic glycolipid-i and sulfatide-i in leprosy and tuberculosis. | 1996 | 8862271 | |
| effect of mycobacterium leprae on peripheral nerve protein phosphorylation; a preliminary study. | 1996 | 8862273 | |
| electron-microscopic study of negative mitsuda reaction in nine-banded armadillos and lessons to be learned. | 1996 | 8862274 | |
| determination of mycobacterial phylogeny on the basis of immunological relatedness of superoxide dismutases. | sixteen strains of cultivable mycobacteria were grown in sauton's medium, and mycobacterium leprae was purified from armadillo liver. cell extracts were prepared from log-phase growths of each of the cultivable mycobacterial strains. superoxide dismutase (sod) enzyme was purified from all cultivable mycobacterial strains included in the study, and antibodies against purified sod enzyme were raised in rabbits. immunological distances (imds) between these anti-sod antibodies and sod antigens were ... | 1996 | 8863452 |
| the epidemiology of mycobacterium leprae: recent insight. | leprosy is still a health problem in many countries. because the causative organism, mycobacterium leprae cannot be cultured in vitro, it is virtually impossible to assess exposure, and the onset of infection and disease. as a consequence, the chain of infection, considered as the relationships between m. leprae, transmission and human host, is poorly understood. here, we discuss a number of organism-, host- and environmental-related factors which may be incriminated in the dynamic process of th ... | 1996 | 8867377 |
| the rrna operons of mycobacterium smegmatis and mycobacterium tuberculosis: comparison of promoter elements and of neighbouring upstream genes. | mycobacterium smegmatis has two rrna (rrn) operons designated rrnaf and rrnbf. appropriate restriction fragments of genomic dna containing sequences immediately upstream from the 16s rrna genes were cloned. we now report the nucleotide sequence of 552 bp upstream from the 5'-end of the box al antitermination element of the leader region of the rrnaf operon. the 5'-end of this segment of dna was found to comprise 113 codons of an orf encoding a protein which is significantly similar to udp-n-acet ... | 1996 | 8868442 |
| drug effects on intracellular mycobacteria determined by mass spectrometric analysis of the na(+)-to-k+ ratios of individual bacterial organisms. | the successful establishment of a drug screening system for intracellular cultivable and noncultivable mycobacteria based on the mass spectrometric determination of bacterial viability is described. to compare drug efficacies on intra- and extracellular mycobacteria, the mycobacteria were subjected to drug treatment either after phagocytosis by the mouse macrophage cell line raw 264.7 or in cell-free medium. after reisolation, their viability was monitored by analyzing the intrabacterial sodium- ... | 1996 | 8878579 |
| bactericidal activity of single dose of clarithromycin plus minocycline, with or without ofloxacin, against mycobacterium leprae in patients. | fifty patients with newly diagnosed lepromatous leprosy were allocated randomly to one of five groups and treated with either a month-long standard regimen of multidrug therapy (mdt) for multibacillary leprosy, a single dose of 600 mg of rifampin, a month-long regimen with the dapsone (dds) and clofazimine (clo) components of the standard mdt, or a single dose of 2,000 mg of clarithromycin (clari) plus 200 mg of minocycline (mino), with or without the addition of 800 mg of ofloxacin (oflo). at t ... | 1996 | 8878595 |
| isolation and sequence of a mycobacterium tuberculosis sigma factor. | a dna segment from mycobacterium tuberculosis containing a gene for a putative sigma factor was isolated and sequenced. the protein encoded by this gene is 92% similar to the mycobacterium smegmatis sigma factor mysb, and has been designated mtu sigb. a mycobacterium leprae homologue of mysb and mtu sigb was identified in the database. | 1996 | 8890748 |
| immunoglobulin g response against 10-kda and 65-kda heat-shock proteins in leprosy patients and their household contacts. | we measured antibody responses to recombinant mycobacterium leprae 65-kda (rml65) and 10-kda (rml10) by indirect elisa in sera from leprosy patients, household contacts and healthy controls in a leprosy-endemic area in the north east of argentina. serum antibody levels to those antigens were correlated with igm anti-phenolic glycolipid i (pgl-i) levels, with bacterial index and the period of time under chemotherapy. bacterial index positive (bi+) patients showed higher mean values when compared ... | 1996 | 8908480 |
| properties of lysophospholipase in mycobacterium leprae. | lysophospholipids are key intermediates in the metabolism of phospholipids. cytoplasmic membranes of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes are made of phospholipid bilayers. phospholipases are activated during phagocytosis. lysophospholipids generated by phospholipase a2 or a1 degrade cell membranes and can cause cell lysis. an active lysophospholipase, that hydrolyzes lysophospholipids, was detected by the radioisotope technique in mycobacterium leprae. about two-thirds of the enzyme was particulate ... | 1996 | 8914265 |
| active leprosy treated effectively with ofloxacin. | the patient is a 25-year-old filipino who showed polymorphous eruptions over the whole body, right ulnar nerve paresis, polyneuropathy and hypalgesia in the area of eruptions. because the biopsy specimen showed foam cells, histiocytes, epithelioid cells, many mycobacterium leprae and no giant cells, the diagnosis of borderline-lepromatous (bl) type was made. the symptoms were improved by the administration of 300 mg/day ofloxacin. because the monotherapy using ofloxacin has been reported to be e ... | 1996 | 8915706 |
| models of the within-host dynamics of persistent mycobacterial infections. | we use mathematical models to investigate the within-host dynamics of mycobacterial infections. in particular, we investigate the mechanisms by which bacteria such as mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae persist at low densities for extended periods, and attain high densities much later. we suggest that the persistence of bacteria in face of immune pressure may result from the bacteria having a very slow growth rate, or having a dormant stage. we show that whereas these mechanisms ... | 1996 | 8920248 |
| induction of heat shock protein 60 expression in human monocytic cell lines infected with mycobacterium leprae. | monocytic cell lines (hl-60 and thp-1) were infected with viable mycobacterium leprae. levels of human hsp60 were estimated by western blot (immunoblot) assay and a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. the results showed that infection of both of the cell lines induced the synthesis of human hsp60, which may be of significance in relation to autoimmune manifestations associated with mycobacterial infections. | 1996 | 8926111 |
| induction of th1 cytokine responses by mycobacterial antigens in leprosy. | twelve mycobacterial antigens were compared for induction of gamma interferon (ifn-gamma) secretion by human blood mononuclear cells of patients with leprosy. fractionated mycobacterium leprae antigens containing cell wall proteins or cytosolic and membrane proteins induced good ifn-gamma responses in tuberculoid leprosy patients. lipoarabinomannan from m. tuberculosis erdman and m. leprae mycolylarabinogalactan peptidoglycan were the poorest ifn-gamma inducers. | 1996 | 8926118 |
| in vitro susceptibility of mycobacterium leprae to oxygen-mediated damage. | in order to evaluate factors responsible for the failure of mycobacterium leprae to multiply in cell-free cultures in vitro studies were undertaken to determine the possible poisoning of the organism by hydroxide and superoxide radicals produced in the growth medium. the superoxide dismutase activity was very low, 10% of the levels found in armadillo cells, while measured activity of catalase and glutathione peroxidase was negligible. susceptibility of m. leprae to hydrogen peroxide was enhanced ... | 1996 | 8935737 |
| two domains of superfamily i helicases may exist as separate proteins. | dna and rna helicases of superfamily i are characterized by seven conserved motifs. the five n-terminal motifs are separated from the two c-terminal ones by a spacer that is highly variable in both sequence and length, suggesting the existence of two distinct domains. using computer methods for protein sequence analysis, we show that phoh, an atp-binding protein that is conserved in escherichia coli and mycobacterium leprae, is homologous to the putative n-terminal domain of the helicases, where ... | 1996 | 8771213 |
| a corynebacterium glutamicum gene encoding a two-domain protein similar to biotin carboxylases and biotin-carboxyl-carrier proteins. | following the analysis of transposon tn5432-induced mutants of corynebacterium glutamicum atcc 13032, a gene encoding a protein with a biotin-binding motif was cloned. the dna sequence of this gene revealed an open reading frame encoding 591 amino acids with a calculated mol. mass of 63.4 kda. the protein is composed of two domains, an n-terminal biotin carboxylase and a c-terminal biotin-carboxyl-carrier protein, that are highly similar to corresponding subunits from prokaryotic and eukaryotic ... | 1996 | 8772169 |
| detection of transforming growth factor-beta 1 in dermal lesions of different clinical forms of leprosy. | immunohistochemical studies were performed to determine the presence and distribution of polypeptide transforming growth factor (tgf)-beta 1, a cytokine with macrophage-suppressing activity, in skin biopsies from 41 patients with different clinical forms of leprosy. we used an anti-tgf-beta 1 polyclonal antibody and the avidinbiotin-peroxidase (abc complex) method. the results demonstrated that the lesions of the lepromatous and borderline lepromatous forms presented intense cytoplasm staining f ... | 1996 | 8774145 |
| hla-dr4-restricted t-cell epitopes from the mycobacterial 60,000 mw heat shock protein (hsp 60) do not map to the sequence homology regions with the human hsp 60. | the mycobacterial 60,000 mw heat shock protein (hsp 60) is a major antigen recognized by mycobacteria-reactive human cd4+ t cells with lymphokine profiles and effector functions consistent with protective immunity. in addition, the presence of a large number of t-cell epitopes presented by several hla class ii molecules makes this antigen relevant to subunit vaccine design. however, the results from animal models as well as human studies suggest that the mycobacterial hsp 60 may induce t-cell-me ... | 1996 | 8778028 |
| antimicrobial activity of rifabutin. | rifabutin is a spiro-piperidyl-rifamycin derived from rifamycin-s. it is structurally related to rifampin and shares many of its properties. rifabutin has a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. it is considerably more active than rifampin in vitro against the mycobacterium avium complex (mac), mycobacterium tuberculosis, and mycobacterium leprae. it also is active against most atypical mycobacteria, including mycobacterium kansasii, but mycobacterium chelonae is relatively resistant. rifabu ... | 1996 | 8785253 |
| [effects of glycerin and dextran on maintenance of the activity of mycobacterium leprae in a cell-free liquid medium]. | in the previous paper, it was indicated that the activity (atp values extracted from collected cells) of mycobacterium leprae could be maintained in the phosphate buffer (ph 7.0) containing fetal calf serum (10%) for more than 4 weeks under the incubation at 30 degrees c. the present paper describes that the activity of cells of m.leprae is prolonged and somewhat stimulated when glycerin and dextran are added to the buffer serum system. the optimal concentrations for glycerin and dextran are 2% ... | 1996 | 8810561 |
| [bcg vaccination to mycobacterium leprae infection in mice]. | bcg vaccine (tokyo strain) was given in balb/ca mice intradermally 1 or 3 months before mycobacterium leprae (m. leprae) challenge as modified shepard's method. the vaccine dosage was 10(7-8) or 10(6). the bcg gave good protection in both dosages and both challenges against m. leprae infection. lymphocytes proliferations of bcg-vaccinated splenocyte cultures in response to m. leprae lysate or bcg components (hsp65, 38 kd, 30 kd or 12 kd protein) were tested, and potent proliferative responses we ... | 1996 | 8810563 |
| establishment of mouse cell lines expressing mycobacterium leprae 65 kda heat shock protein gene. | 1996 | 8810564 | |
| granulomas induced by mycobacterium leprae | leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, affects primarily the skin, mucous membranes, and peripheral nerves. it is characterized by a spectrum of symptoms, largely a result of the immunological response of the host to the antigens of m. leprae. at one pole [lepromatous leprosy (ll)] there is an enormous growth of the bacilli in the tissues resulting from a specific and profound lack of cell-mediated immunity (cmi) of the host to m. leprae. at the opposite pole [tube ... | 1996 | 8812674 |
| rapid identification of mycobacterial species by pcr amplification of hypervariable 16s rrna gene promoter region. | a total of 0.3 to 0.4 kb of the promoter region of the 16s rrna genes from mycobacterium tuberculosis, m. gordonae, m. xenopi, and m. leprae was pcr amplified, cloned, and sequenced. the observed number of substitutions, insertions, and deletions exceeded those found in previously used target sequences, including the entire 16s coding region. a simple and generally applicable restriction fragment length polymorphism method that can be used to distinguish between mycobacterial species is describe ... | 1996 | 8815098 |
| serological reactivity to a synthetic analog of phenolic glycolipid i and early detection of leprosy in an area of low endemicity. | a total of 23,863 individuals living in an area of low endemicity for leprosy were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a semisynthetic analogue of the phenolic glycolipid i antigen of mycobacterium leprae. the proportion found positive was 3.86% which was significantly higher than that in a sample of a population known to be free of leprosy. clinical examinations as well as mitsuda and skin smear tests were organized for those defined as seropositive. the proportion of individuals w ... | 1996 | 8820514 |
| [the electron immunochemical detection of mycobacterial antigens in the granulomas of leprosy patients]. | m.leprae antigens (ag) in skin granuloma macrophages from 10 untreated patients with active lepromatous leprosy were studied with the use of electron microscopic immunochemical methods. peroxidase-conjugated antirabbit antibodies to m.leprae and m.avium were used. m.leprae ag were found to be located in mycobacterial microcapsules, as well as in collagen fibers of the derma and the connective tissue of blood vessels with the signs of damaged collagen. in the latter case fixed immune complexes pr ... | 1996 | 8820688 |
| prognostic evaluation of cell mediated immunity in leprosy and correlation with clinicopathological status of leprosy patients. | cell mediated immunity was studied in 50 patients of leprosy and 15 control volunteers, by estimation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (pbl), total rosette forming cells (trfc) and active rosette forming cell (arfc) counts in vitro. pbl, trfc and arfc counts were slightly but not significantly increased in patients of tuberculoid leprosy (tt) and muculoanaesthetic variant of tuberculoid leprosy as compared to control group. however, gradual decrease in t-cell subsets, occurred in borderline tuber ... | 1996 | 8755125 |
| rifamycin resistance in mycobacteria. | 1996 | 8761722 | |
| immune response to heat-shock protein correlates with induction of insulitis in i-e alpha d transgenic nod mice. | to evaluate the correlation between heat-shock protein (hsp) and insulitis, we compared lymphocyte proliferative response to mycobacterium leprae hsp65 of nod mice with that of i-e alpha d transgenic nod (i-e+nod) mice, which show no insulitis. we found that splenocytes from 15-week-old nod mice showed a more marked proliferative response to hsp than did those from age-matched i-e+nod mice (p < 0.05). we then transferred splenocytes from 12-week-old nod mice into i-e+nod mice to induce insulitis ... | 1996 | 8549860 |
| bactericidal activities of combinations of new drugs against mycobacterium leprae in nude mice. | the bactericidal activities of 12 regimens with various combinations of new drugs (clarithromycin [clari], minocycline [mino], and ofloxacin [oflo]) and the standard antileprosy drugs, especially rifampin (rmp), were compared in nude mice with established mycobacterium leprae infection. the longest duration of treatment was 24 weeks for intermittent (once every 4 weeks) therapy and 8 weeks for daily therapy. bactericidal effects were monitored by titrating the proportion of viable m. leprae isol ... | 1996 | 8834886 |
| histological and immunological correlates of suspected leprosy lesions. | thirty-two subjects with suspected leprosy lesions were investigated to assess various modalities of sensibility and sweat function and these were correlated with immunological and histological parameters. it was found that pain and temperature, mediated by small unmyelinated fibres were impaired in the early lesions. impairment of sweat function was seen only when one of the modalities of sensibility was also affected. antibodies specific to a protein (35 kda) antigen and phenolic glycolipid 1 ... | 1996 | 8835584 |
| relapse of leprosy after multidrug therapy. | relapse of leprosy after multidrug therapy among leprosy patients treated at mahasarakarm, kalasin and roi-et from 1984 to 1994 were analyzed. twenty pb relapses (45.45%) and twenty four mb relapses (54.55%) were found among 5,298 originally classified pb patients and 5 mb relapses occurred in 2,624 originally classified mb patients. mean relapse interval was between 3-4 years. the relapse rate within 10 years after stopping mdt was 0.83 per cent in pb and 0.19 per cent in mb. the estimated rela ... | 1996 | 8996998 |
| a 35-kilodalton protein is a major target of the human immune response to mycobacterium leprae. | the control of leprosy will be facilitated by the identification of major mycobacterium leprae-specific antigens which mirror the immune response to the organism across the leprosy spectrum. we have investigated the host response to a 35-kda protein of m. leprae. recombinant 35-kda protein purified from mycobacterium smegmatis resembled the native antigen in the formation of multimeric complexes and binding by monoclonal antibodies and sera from leprosy patients. these properties were not shared ... | 1996 | 8945562 |
| molecular definition and identification of new proteins of mycobacterium leprae. | this report describes n-terminal group analysis of six new proteins isolated from in vivo-grown mycobacterium leprae, three of which correspond to products of the cysa, ahpc, and rpil genes, which were recently defined through the m. leprae genome project and which encode a putative sulfate sulfurtransferase, an antioxidant enzyme, and the l7/l12 ribosomal protein, respectively. | 1996 | 8945601 |
| the immune response to mycobacterial 70-kda heat shock proteins frequently involves autoreactive t cells and is quantitatively disregulated in multiple sclerosis. | heat shock proteins (hsp) are the most conserved molecules known to date that may also function as immune targets during infection. hence, theoretically there is a high chance of cross-reactive responses to epitopes shared by host and microbe hsp. if not properly regulated, these responses may contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease. to determine if immune responses to hsp could contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis, we raised t lymphocyte lines specific for the purif ... | 1996 | 8964896 |
| [the genetic susceptibility to leprosy in humans]. | the capacity of certain individuals to resist certain diseases, including leprosy, has for a long time been considered as being influenced by genetic factors. the clinical and pathological spectrum of leprosy, epidemiological heterogeneity, both geographic and ethnic, in the prevalence of polar forms, may be explained by genetic differences in host resistance. while the specific genes in question have not been identified, recent studies suggest a genetic basis for differences in the capacity of ... | 1996 | 8967289 |
| gene arrangement and organization in a approximately 76 kb fragment encompassing the oric region of the chromosome of mycobacterium leprae. | a continuous 75627 bp segment of the mycobacterium leprae chromosome spanning the oric region was sequenced. the gene order at this locus was similar to that found in the replication origin region of many other prokaryotes, particularly mycobacterium tuberculosis and streptomyces coelicolor. as in the case of several gram-positive bacteria, essential genes involved in basic cellular functions, such as dna or rna metabolism (dnaa, dnab, dnan, gyrb, gyra, pcnb, recf, rnpa, ssb), cell wall synthesi ... | 1996 | 8969512 |
| isolation and characterization of a 70 kda protein from mycobacterium avium. | mycobacterium avium complex (mac) is an intracellular pathogen which causes disseminated bacterial infection in immunocompromised individuals. this organism predominantly infects macrophages. attachment of mac to macrophages is the first step prior to invasion. we have previously shown that a 70 kda protein of m. avium (ma) is one of nine monocyte-binding proteins. in the present study, we have purified this protein from sonic extracts of ma and studied some of its properties. the n-terminal seq ... | 1996 | 8971687 |
| the cellular and molecular basis of immunity against mycobacterial diseases. | 1996 | 8972118 | |
| erythema nodosum leprosum is associated with up-regulation of polyclonal igg1 antibody synthesis. | erythema nodosum leprosum (enl) is a serious complication of lepromatous (l) disease in leprosy. we have previously shown that of the four igg subclasses, igg1 and igg3 mycobacterium leprae-specific antibodies are significantly lower in leprosy patients during enl reaction compared with untreated l patients. to see if this decrease results from a down-regulation of antibody synthesis during enl, the frequency of antibody-secreting b cells (absc) in the blood compartment was determined by elispot ... | 1996 | 8973611 |
| electron microscopic characteristics of actinomycetic agents having aetiological association with human leprosy and epizootic ulcerative syndrome of fish. | the transmission electron microscopic (tem) studies of the human leprosy derived chemoautotrophic nocardio-form (can) bacteria and eus derived can bacteria showed presence of double contoured cell-walls consisting of an electron transparent and a dense layer. the fibrillar structures on the surface of these can bacterial cells also suggested their similarity to the human tissue derived mycobacterium leprae cells. these em studies further revealed mycelial and coccoid bodies in all these bacteria ... | 1996 | 8979491 |
| cloning and expression of transaldolase from potato. | we have isolated a cdna encoding transaldolase, an enzyme of the pentose-phosphate pathway, from potato (solanum tuberosum). the 1.5 kb cdna encodes a protein of 438 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 47.8 kda. when the potato cdna was expressed in escherichia coli a 45 kda protein with transaldolase activity was produced. the first 62 amino acids of the deduced amino acid sequence represent an apparent plastid transit sequence. while the potato transaldolase has considerable similarit ... | 1996 | 8980493 |