Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| linkage analysis of susceptibility to leprosy type using an ibd regression method. | leprosy is a chronic disease caused by infection with mycobacterium leprae, which is manifested across a wide clinical spectrum. there is evidence that susceptibility both to leprosy per se and to the clinical type of leprosy is influenced by host genetic factors. this paper describes the application of an identity by descent regression search for genetic determinants of leprosy type among families from karonga district, northern malawi. suggestive evidence was found for linkage to leprosy type ... | 2004 | 15014432 |
| comparative proteomics of the mycobacterium leprae binding protein myelin p0: its implication in leprosy and other neurodegenerative diseases. | mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy invades schwann cells of the peripheral nerves leading to nerve damage and disfigurement, which is the hallmark of the disease. wet experiments have shown that m. leprae binds to a major peripheral nerve protein, the myelin p zero (p0). this protein is specific to peripheral nerve and may be important in the initial step of m. leprae binding and invasion of schwann cells which is the feature of leprosy. though the receptors on schawann cells, ... | 2004 | 15019586 |
| a brief history of the discovery of natural simian immunodeficiency virus (siv) infections in captive sooty mangabey monkeys. | experimental leprosy studies using mycobacterium leprae inoculum isolated from a sooty mangabey monkey (smm) resulted in the accidental discovery that smm's asymptomatically carry simian immunodeficiency virus (siv) that is pathogenic in macaques. we showed that the smm virus, sivdelta, was antigenically related to sivmac, which had been identified in macaques, and to the human immunodeficiency virus (hiv). similar asymptomatic natural siv infections had been reported in african green monkeys (a ... | 2004 | 14766361 |
| genotyping of mycobacterium leprae on the basis of the polymorphism of ttc repeats for analysis of leprosy transmission. | the polymorphism of ttc repeats in mycobacterium leprae was examined using the bacilli obtained from residents in villages at north maluku where m. leprae infections are highly endemic (as well as from patients at north sulawesi of indonesia) to elucidate the possible mode of leprosy transmission. ttc genotypes are stable for several generations of passages in nude mice footpads and, hence, are feasible for the genotyping of isolates and epidemiological analysis of leprosy transmission. it was f ... | 2004 | 14766846 |
| macro-array and bioinformatic analyses reveal mycobacterial 'core' genes, variation in the esat-6 gene family and new phylogenetic markers for the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. | to better understand the biology and the virulence determinants of the two major mycobacterial human pathogens mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, their genome sequences have been determined recently. in silico comparisons revealed that among the 1439 genes common to both m. tuberculosis and m. leprae, 219 genes code for proteins that show no similarity with proteins from other organisms. therefore, the latter 'core' genes could be specific for mycobacteria or even for the intra ... | 2004 | 14766927 |
| immunological crossreactivity of the mycobacterium leprae cfp-10 with its homologue in mycobacterium tuberculosis. | mycobacterium tuberculosis culture filtrate protein-10 (cfp-10) (rv3874) is considered a promising antigen for the immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis (tb) together with early secreted antigens of m. tuberculosis (esat-6). both esat-6 and cfp-10 are encoded by the rd1 region that is deleted from all tested m. bovis bacille calmette-guérin (bcg) strains but present in m. leprae, m. tuberculosis, m. bovis, m. kansasii, m. africanum and m. marinum. in this study, the homologue of cfp-10 in m. leprae (m ... | 2004 | 14723623 |
| expression of protein gene product 9.5 in lepromatous eyes showing ciliary body nerve damage and a "dying back" phenomenon in the posterior ciliary nerves. | peripheral nerve destruction is the hallmark of leprosy. ocular complications form a substantial part of the clinical manifestations but histopathology of nerve destruction within ocular structures has not been shown satisfactorily. the role of protein gene product (pgp) 9.5 in identifying nerve destruction in the ciliary body and posterior ciliary nerves of lepromatous eyes is shown. | 2004 | 14736767 |
| susceptibility to leprosy is associated with park2 and pacrg. | leprosy is caused by mycobacterium leprae and affects about 700,000 individuals each year. it has long been thought that leprosy has a strong genetic component, and recently we mapped a leprosy susceptibility locus to chromosome 6 region q25-q26 (ref. 3). here we investigate this region further by using a systematic association scan of the chromosomal interval most likely to harbour this leprosy susceptibility locus. in 197 vietnamese families we found a significant association between leprosy a ... | 2004 | 14737177 |
| [hypopigmented cutaneous lesions in a black immigrant]. | 2004 | 14746759 | |
| leprosy (hansen's disease). | leprosy (hansen's disease) causes the most common treatable form of neuropathy in the world. several endemic countries account for the majority of the world's cases and most of the cases seen in the us are amongst immigrants. however, endemic cases of leprosy occur in the us. the pathogen is mycobacterium leprae, a slow-growing, obligate intracellular pathogen that consistently infects skin and peripheral nerves. the clinical appearance of the skin and neurologic deficits develop months to years ... | 2004 | 14759342 |
| a polyketide synthase catalyzes the last condensation step of mycolic acid biosynthesis in mycobacteria and related organisms. | mycolic acids are major and specific constituents of the cell envelope of corynebacterineae, a suborder of bacterial species including several important human pathogens such as mycobacterium tuberculosis, mycobacterium leprae, or corynebacterium diphtheriae. these long-chain fatty acids are involved in the unusual architecture and impermeability of the cell envelope of these bacteria. the condensase, the enzyme responsible for the final condensation step in mycolic acid biosynthesis, has remaine ... | 2004 | 14695899 |
| did the loss of two-component systems initiate pseudogene accumulation in mycobacterium leprae? | 2004 | 14702392 | |
| leprosy: a primer for canadian physicians. | leprosy is a rare but serious infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. while global prevalence of the disease is decreasing, increasing rates of immigration from countries where leprosy is endemic have led to the recognition of this illness in north america. classically, leprosy presents as hypopigmented cutaneous macules along with sensory and motor peripheral neuropathies, although the clinical manifestations vary along a disease spectrum. in addition to primary infection, patients m ... | 2004 | 14707226 |
| effects of anti-endothelial cell antibodies in leprosy and malaria. | as a result of damaging endothelial cells (ecs), mycobacterium leprae triggers the production of antibodies (abs). these anti-ec abs (aecas) can be divided into two types. the first type nonspecifically reacts with components of the cytosol (cy) and can be detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa). the second specifically reacts with the ec membrane (mb) and requires fluorescence-activated cell sorter (facs) analysis to be detected. the presence of both types of aecas was determined ... | 2004 | 14688109 |
| establishment of a functional genomics platform for leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli. | leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli, the causal agent of ratoon stunting disease in sugarcane, is a xylem-limited, nutritionally fastidious, slow growing, gram-positive coryneform bacterium. because of the difficulties in growing this bacterium in pure culture, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis. currently, the genome sequence of l. xyli subsp. xyli is being completed by the agronomical and environmental genomes group from the organization for nucleotide sequencing and analysi ... | 2004 | 14964531 |
| a case study in hansen's disease acquired after heart transplant. | hansen's disease, leprosy, is a chronic infectious disease caused by the acid-fast bacillus mycobacterium leprae. there are multiple forms of the disease ranging from the relatively benign to the progressive, malignant lepromatous leprosy. there is effective antimicrobial treatment available that is capable of curing the disease. we report the case of a post heart transplant patient acquiring hansen's disease. | 2004 | 14974527 |
| expression of costimulatory molecules (cd80, cd86, cd28, cd152), accessory molecules (tcr alphabeta, tcr gammadelta) and t cell lineage molecules (cd4+, cd8+) in pbmc of leprosy patients using mycobacterium leprae antigen (mlcwa) with murabutide and t cell peptide of trat protein. | in leprosy, cell-mediated immunity (cmi) is more significant than humoral response to eliminate intracellular pathogen. t cell defect is a common feature in lepromatous leprosy (ll) patients as compared to tuberculoid type (tt) patients. for efficient initiation of cd4+, t cell response requires t cell receptor (tcr) activation and costimulation provided by molecules on antigen-presenting cells (apc) and their counter receptors on t cells. in our previous study, the defective t cell function in ... | 2004 | 14975355 |
| nk cells modulate the cytotoxic activity generated by mycobacterium leprae-hsp65 in leprosy patients: role of il-18 and il-13. | protection against intracellular pathogens such as mycobacterium leprae is critically dependent on the function of nk cells at early stages of the immune response and on th1 cells at later stages. in the present report we evaluated the role of il-18 and il-13, two cytokines that can influence nk cell activity, in the generation of m. leprae-derived hsp65-cytotoxic t lymphocytes (ctl) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) of leprosy patients. we demonstrated that il-18 modulates hsp65-in ... | 2004 | 14678270 |
| are viable mycobacterium leprae present in lepromatous patients after completion of 12 months' and 24 months' multi-drug therapy? | a study was carried out to determine whether or not viable bacilli persist in mb patients treated with 12-month and 24-month multidrug therapy (mdt). in the first group, 60 untreated lepromatous patients who had an initial average bacterial index (bi) of 3+ or more were enrolled. at the completion of 12 months of mdt, skin biopsies were obtained and m. leprae concentrate was inoculated into the footpads of five thymectomized and irradiated (t900r) mice. rees technique was used for the mouse foot ... | 2004 | 15835604 |
| comparison between c57bl/6 and c57bl/10 mycobacterial mouse pleurisy with respect to cellular migration and nitric oxide production. | mycobacterium bovis-bcg (bcg) and mycobacterium leprae (ml) have opposite inflammatory properties. mycobacteria-induced pleurisy in c57bl/6 and c57bl/10 mice was evaluated to establish if their innate responses could be comparable, verifying cellular migration and nitrite production. kinetic responses after ml or bcg intrathoracic injection were compared in those mice, sharing the h-2(b) mhc haplotype. bcg led to acute eosinophilia and late neutrophilia in both mice. in c57bl/6 late pleurisy, mo ... | 2004 | 15901414 |
| comparison of multidrug therapy treatment results between multibacillary leprosy patients in hyperendemic and hypoendemic areas in gowa regency, south sulawesi, indonesia. | we studied 88 multibacillary (mb) leprosy patients, who received multidrug therapy (mdt) treatment in hyperendemic (44 persons) and hypoendemic (44 persons) areas in gowa regency, south sulawesi, indonesia. bacteriological examinations were carried out (bacteria index and morphology index), immunological examinations (mlpa and tnf-alpha) and genetic variation in blood and ear lobe slit skin smears of mb leprosy patients, which had been treated by mdt, were performed. the collected data were anal ... | 2004 | 15691133 |
| biological implications of mycobacterium leprae gene expression during infection. | the genome of mycobacterium leprae, the etiologic agent of leprosy, has been sequenced and annotated revealing a genome in apparent disarray and in stark contrast to the genome of the related human pathogen, m. tuberculosis. with less than 50% coding capacity of a 3.3-mb genome and 1,116 pseudogenes, the remaining genes help define the minimal gene set necessary for in vivo survival of this mycobacterial pathogen as well as genes potentially required for infection and pathogenesis seen in lepros ... | 2004 | 15741741 |
| susceptibility to leprosy may be conditioned by an interaction between the nramp1 promoter polymorphisms and the lepromin response. | controversial results have been achieved by attempting to associate the nramp1 gene with mycobacterium leprae susceptibility as well as with the mitsuda reaction, which represents a specific immune response to m. leprae. this study evaluated this association as well as the interaction of the polymorphism (gt)(n) in the promoter region of the nramp1 gene with a specific immune response to m. leprae measured by the intradermal mitsuda test in leprosy patients and in non-consanguineous household co ... | 2004 | 15755200 |
| a mutation at codon 516 in the rpob gene of mycobacterium leprae confers resistance to rifampin. | a missense mutation at codon 516 in the rpob gene of mycobacterium leprae conferring rifampin resistance was confirmed by the correlation between sequencing results and mouse footpad assay. the isolate was obtained from a relapsed lepromatous leprosy patient. this is the first report on the complete concordance between the mutation located at codon 516 in the rpob gene and the corresponding resistance to rifampin in leprosy. the novel profile of mutation in the rpob gene will contribute to the c ... | 2004 | 15755201 |
| epidemiology of leprosy. | 2004 | 15755207 | |
| the relapse rate in mb leprosy patients treated with 2-years of who-mdt is not low. | a group of multibacillary patients is clearly at high risk for relapse following 2-yr who-mdt. relapse is largely confined to bl or ll patients with a high bi initially, and occurs long after the discontinuation of therapy. this important group of patients at risk for treatment failure presents several important issues: the need to identify those at risk and the operational requirements needed for their long term follow-up. also, this group of patients might well benefit from an alternative anti ... | 2004 | 15755209 |
| the 6th who tag report: validation and "non-existent patients". | 2004 | 15755210 | |
| high resolution shadowing of mycobacterium leprae. | metal shadow casting techniques for transmission electron microscopic examination was used to determine the morphological characteristics of mycobacterium leprae in untreated and treated patients. this technique is used to visualize bacterial surface structures by thermal evaporation of platinum alloys under moderate vacuum. this method gives a high contrast image at relatively low resolution and is useful for correlating micro-morphology quantitatively to early therapeutic effects of anti-lepro ... | 2004 | 15764287 |
| leprosy. | 2004 | 15865707 | |
| current epidemiology of leprosy. | every year around 4,00,000 new cases of leprosy occur in india and india contributes about 80% of the global leprosy case load. the prevalence of leprosy (case load per 1,00,000 population) has come down from 52 per 10,000 in 1981 to 2.4 per 10,000 in july 2004. there is no primary prevention for leprosy. multidrug therapy is the only intervention available against the disease. as of july 2004 there were about 2,40,000 leprosy cases on record in india. there are thirteen states and union territo ... | 2004 | 15871348 |
| clinical manifestations, diagnosis and classification of leprosy. | mycobacterium leprae, the causative organism of leprosy is slow-growing and the reason is its long incubation period of 2-4 years. males are predominantly affected and deformity is produced in less than 2% of people affected with the disease. the disease manifests in the skin as macules, papules, nodules, plaques or infiltration. hypopigmented or erythematous skin patches with definite sensory deficit is one of the clinical cardinal signs by which one can make a definite diagnosis. demonstration ... | 2004 | 15871350 |
| leprosy and peripheral neuropathy. | leprosy, although rare in the united states, continues to be a leading cause of peripheral neuropathy and blindness worldwide. we describe the pathogenic agent mycobacterium leprae and discuss the epidemiology of this disease. the different classification schemes are compared and the clinical and laboratory features are presented. finally, the immunology, pathology, and the treatment are discussed. | 2004 | 19078734 |
| characterization of phylogenetically distant members of the adenylate cyclase family from mycobacteria: rv1647 from mycobacterium tuberculosis and its orthologue ml1399 from m. leprae. | analysis of the genome sequence of mycobacterium tuberculosis h37rv has identified 16 genes that are similar to the mammalian adenylate and guanylate cyclases. rv1647 was predicted to be an active adenylate cyclase but its position in a phylogenetically distant branch from the other enzymes characterized so far from m. tuberculosis makes it an interestingly divergent nucleotide cyclase to study. in agreement with its divergence at the sequence level from other nucleotide cyclases, the cloning, e ... | 2005 | 15500449 |
| immunotherapy with plasmid dna encoding mycobacterial hsp65 in association with chemotherapy is a more rapid and efficient form of treatment for tuberculosis in mice. | tuberculosis (tb) remains a threat for public health, killing around 3 million people a year. despite the fact that most cases can be cured with antibiotics, the treatment is long and patients relapse if chemotherapy is not continued for at least 6 months. thus, a better characterization of the working principles of the immune system in tb and identification of new immunotherapeutic products for the development of shorter regimens of treatment are essential to achieve an effective management of ... | 2005 | 15526006 |
| genetic dissection of immunity in leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae that affects an estimated 700,000 new individuals each year. a strong contribution of host genetics to susceptibility to leprosy has long been suggested to account for the considerable variability observed between individuals exposed to m. leprae. as there is no relevant animal model for human leprosy, forward genetics is the main strategy used to identify the genes and, consequently, the immunological pathways involved in pr ... | 2005 | 15653309 |
| polymorphism in the rpot gene in mycobacterium leprae isolates obtained from latin american countries and its possible correlation with the spread of leprosy. | the genotypes of mycobacterium leprae isolates originating from mexico, peru and paraguay were analysed for the polymorphism of short tandem repeats in the rpot gene. the genotype with four copies of the six-base tandem repeats in the rpot gene was prominently predominant in mexico, but the genotype of all isolates from peru and paraguay contained three copies of the six-base tandem repeats. these obvious different distributions might reflect the spread of leprosy by the different strains of m. ... | 2005 | 15686829 |
| mutations in genes related to drug resistance in mycobacterium leprae isolates from leprosy patients in korea. | identification of the presence and drug resistance of mycobacterium leprae is key to the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy in non-endemic country like korea. the aim of this study was to screen the drug target dna such as folp, rpob, gyr, and 23s rrna of drug resistance strain of m. leprae. | 2005 | 15603834 |
| trochanteric hip fracture in an elderly patient with leprosy during osteoporosis treatment with risedronate and alfacalcidol. | there is no well-established treatment for osteoporosis in male patients with leprosy, because no clinical trials have examined the efficacy of treatment on bone mineral density (bmd) or fracture incidence in patients with leprosy. in this study, we report a case of osteoporosis in a man with leprosy, treated by oral administration of risedronate and alfacalcidol. an 82-year-old man with leprosy presented to our hospital with chronic back pain, due to osteoporosis, in july 2002. to prevent the p ... | 2005 | 15616900 |
| expression of foxp3 mrna is not confined to cd4+cd25+ t regulatory cells in humans. | expression of the transcription factor foxp3 (forkhead box p3) has been implicated as a key element for cd25(+) t regulatory cell function in mice. however, literature over similar involvement of foxp3 expression in human t regulatory cells is limited. we found that, unlike murine cells, foxp3 mrna expression could be induced in human cd25(-) and cd8(+) peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which were both negative for foxp3 mrna expression after isolation. expression of foxp3 mrna began as soon a ... | 2005 | 15620457 |
| the acyl-amp ligase fadd32 and accd4-containing acyl-coa carboxylase are required for the synthesis of mycolic acids and essential for mycobacterial growth: identification of the carboxylation product and determination of the acyl-coa carboxylase components. | mycolic acids are major and specific long-chain fatty acids of the cell envelope of several important human pathogens such as mycobacterium tuberculosis, m. leprae, and corynebacterium diphtheriae. their biosynthesis is essential for mycobacterial growth and represents an attractive target for developing new antituberculous drugs. we have previously shown that the pks13 gene encodes condensase, the enzyme that performs the final condensation step of mycolic acid biosynthesis and is flanked by tw ... | 2005 | 15632194 |
| effects of thalidomide on intracellular mycobacterium leprae in normal and activated macrophages. | thalidomide is an effective drug for the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum (enl). enl is an inflammatory reaction that may occur in multibacillary leprosy patients. its cause(s) as well as the mechanism of thalidomide in arresting this condition are not fully understood. it has been suggested that enl is an immune complex-mediated hypersensitivity precipitated by the release of mycobacterium leprae from macrophages. the released antigen may complex with precipitating antibodies, initiating ... | 2005 | 15642997 |
| summarizing data through a piecewise linear growth curve model. | most of the research in clinical trials is based on longitudinal designs, which involve repeated measurements of a variable of interest. such designs are very powerful, both statistically and scientifically. recent advances in statistical theory and software development incorporate the covariance structures such as unstructured, compound symmetry, auto-regressive and random effects, etc., for analysing longitudinal data. hathaway et al. propose a technique for summarizing longitudinal data using ... | 2005 | 15568186 |
| challenges presented by nerve damage in leprosy. | the basis of nerve damage in leprosy is the unique tendency of mycobacterium leprae to invade schwann cells. alphabeta-dystroglycan on the basement membrane of schwann cells binds to laminin alpha2, in turn binding to receptors on the m. leprae surface, comprising a histone-like protein and phenoglycolipid-1. when nerve damage during reversal reactions was found to be associated with an abrupt increase in delayed type hypersensitivity against m. leprae antigenic determinants released from schwan ... | 2005 | 15881032 |
| [development of antileprosy vaccines]. | the absence of an effective antileprosy vaccine, capable of preventing the spread of leprosy hinders its control in endemic countries. developing such a vaccine is highly difficult due to the absence of reproducible methods for the in vitro cultivation of mycobacterium leprae. the results of field trials of earlier proposed vaccines (bcg and bcg in combination with killed m. leprae) are indicative of their insufficient efficacy. the article presents a review of literature, including historical i ... | 2005 | 15881952 |
| immunostimulatory activity of major membrane protein-ii from mycobacterium leprae. | we examined the antigenicity of an immunomodulatory protein, major membrane protein (mmp)-ii, from mycobacterium leprae, since host defense against m. leprae largely depends on adaptive immunity. both unprimed and memory t cells from healthy individuals were stimulated by autologous mmp-ii-pulsed monocyte-derived dendritic cells (dcs) to produce ifn-gamma. the dc-mediated ifn-gamma production was dependent on the expression of mhc, cd86, and mmp-ii antigens. memory t cells from paucibacillary (p ... | 2005 | 15885677 |
| microbiology. global spread of leprosy tied to human migration. | 2005 | 15890850 | |
| on the origin of leprosy. | leprosy, a chronic human disease with potentially debilitating neurological consequences, results from infection with mycobacterium leprae. this unculturable pathogen has undergone extensive reductive evolution, with half of its genome now occupied by pseudogenes. using comparative genomics, we demonstrated that all extant cases of leprosy are attributable to a single clone whose dissemination worldwide can be retraced from analysis of very rare single-nucleotide polymorphisms. the disease seems ... | 2005 | 15894530 |
| leprosy research declines, but most of the basic questions remain unanswered. | 2005 | 15898836 | |
| a potentially new treatment for tuberculosis; will a diarylquinoline work for leprosy? | 2005 | 15898838 | |
| some considerations on the origin of type 1 reactions in leprosy. | 2005 | 15898839 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [serological tests in the diagnosis of tuberculosis]. | 2005 | 16276690 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [detection of antibodies to m. leprae in saliva of lepric patients]. | saliva of 116 lepric patients were scanned for antibodies in elisa (with m. leprae cultivated in vitro used as antigen) in order to work out an invasion-free diagnostic tool for lepra. the elisa findings for "saliva-serum" pairs from same patients showed an increased level of antibodies both in serum and saliva in 39.7% of cases, and matching of results (positive and negative ones) was observed in 73.3% of patients. the increasing level of specific antibodies as observed in intensification of th ... | 2005 | 15765658 |
| antigenic trigger for type 1 reaction in leprosy. | type 1 (reversal or upgrading) reactions occur during or after chemotherapy in around 10% leprosy patients [int j lepr other mycobact dis 61 (1993) 8-15]. the cause of this immunological upgrading is incompletely defined, although the approximately 2-fold increased risk of reaction in patients vaccinated with mycobacterium w suggests that infection by mycobacteria other than mycobacterium leprae may trigger this phenomenon [vaccine 13 (1995) 1102-1110]. we report a case of borderline lepromatous ... | 2005 | 15780420 |
| microscopic leprosy skin lesions in primary neuritic leprosy. | the histologic diagnosis of primary neuritic leprosy (pnl) remains a public health care concern, especially when nerve biopsies cannot be performed. as such, some authors emphasize the importance of performing a skin biopsy of a hypoesthetic area even without clinically visible lesions. in this study, an attempt was made to define the histologic changes in the sensory altered skin of 42 clinically diagnosed pnl patients. histologic alterations caused by leprosy were seen in 31% of these patients ... | 2005 | 15793516 |
| leprosy: too complex a disease for a simple elimination paradigm. | can leprosy be eliminated? this paper considers the question against the background of the who programme to eliminate leprosy. in 1991 the world health assembly set a target of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem by 2000. elimination was defined as reaching a prevalence of < 1 case per 10 000 people. the elimination programme has been successful in delivering highly effective antibiotic therapy worldwide. however, despite this advance, new-case detection rates remain stable in countri ... | 2005 | 15798849 |
| lepromatous iridocyclitis. | a 36-year-old woman with no prior medical history presented with a unilateral decrease in vision and iridocyclitis to our hospital. external examination demonstrated multifocal, firm, elevated, non-tender skin nodules on the patient's face and left hand. in addition, slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed gray, cheesy-appearing nodules on the iris surface of the affected eye. anterior chamber paracentesis and pars plana vitrectomy did not reveal further information. skin nodule biopsy, however, demons ... | 2005 | 15804778 |
| misidentification of mycobacterium leprae as mycobacterium intracellulare by the cobas amplicor m. intracellulare test. | commercially available nucleic acid probe- and amplification-based systems for detection and differentiation of mycobacteria are widely used in clinical microbiology laboratories. here we report two cases of human leprosy in which the cobas amplicor mycobacterium intracellulare test led to false- positive results. correct identification of mycobacterium leprae was possible only by amplification and comparative sequence analysis of the 16s rrna gene. | 2005 | 15815021 |
| [correlation between dose/plasma concentration and assessment of hepatic and renal changes in wistar rats treated with the rom scheme]. | leprosy, a chronic granulomatous infectocontagious disease transmitted by mycobacterium leprae, continues to be prevalent today, especially in underdeveloped countries and its paucibacillary form with a single lesion is being treated with rifampicin (600mg), ofloxacin (400mg) and minocycline (100mg) administered as a single dose (rom scheme). thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the dose/plasma concentration correlation versus biochemical changes occurring in male wistar r ... | 2005 | 15821793 |
| [current advances in leprosy research activities]. | due to the advent of multi-drug therapy (mdt) recommended by the who, for the treatment of leprosy, presently, leprosy is regarded as a "curable disease". the number of new cases in japan is relatively very low, due to which the disease is likely to be neglected, but on scientific grounds, there is a necessity to perform in depth studies. leprosy caused by m. leprae is still unclear on various aspects including transmission, immunology, nerve damage etc. here we introduce the recent advances in ... | 2005 | 15745061 |
| [in vitro and in vivo activities of newly synthesized fluoroquinolones wq-3345 and wq-3402 against mycobacterium leprae]. | activities of newly synthesized fluoroquinolnes wq-3345 and wq-3402 against m. leprae were measured by using the buddemeyer method. the % inhibition of the examined drugs for m. leprae was in the order of rfp > wq-3402 > spfx > gflx > wq-3345 > lvfx. the anti-m. leprae activity of wq-3402 was found to be strongest in these five fluoroquinolones when examined by this method, and the activity of wq-3345 was weaker than that of gflx. the anti-m. leprae activities of wq-3345 and wq-3402 were measure ... | 2005 | 15745063 |
| [application of genetic epidemiology to dissecting susceptibility to leprosy]. | 2005 | 15746608 | |
| point mutations in the dna- and cnmp-binding domains of the homologue of the camp receptor protein (crp) in mycobacterium bovis bcg: implications for the inactivation of a global regulator and strain attenuation. | the genome of mycobacterium tuberculosis h37rv includes a homologue of the crp/fnr (camp receptor protein/fumarate and nitrate reduction regulator) family of transcription regulators encoded by rv3676. sequencing of the orthologous gene from attenuated mycobacterium bovis bacille calmette-guérin (bcg) strains revealed point mutations that affect the putative dna-binding and cnmp-binding domains of the encoded protein. these mutations are not present in the published sequences of the rv3676 ortho ... | 2005 | 15699203 |
| application of a viability-staining method for mycobacterium leprae derived from the athymic (nu/nu) mouse foot pad. | mycobacterium leprae cannot be cultured, so ascertaining viability of the organism remains a major obstacle, impeding many avenues of investigation. this study tested a two-colour, syto9 and propidium iodide, fluorescence assay, which scores for membrane damage in individual bacilli, to determine if a rapid direct-count viability-staining technique can be reliably applied to m. leprae. a variety of experimental conditions were employed to validate this technique. this technique was also used to ... | 2005 | 15713606 |
| an unusual mutation results in the replacement of diaminopimelate with lanthionine in the peptidoglycan of a mutant strain of mycobacterium smegmatis. | mycobacterial peptidoglycan contains l-alanyl-d-iso-glutaminyl-meso-diaminopimelyl-d-alanyl-d-alanine peptides, with the exception of the peptidoglycan of mycobacterium leprae, in which glycine replaces the l-alanyl residue. the third-position amino acid of the peptides is where peptidoglycan cross-linking occurs, either between the meso-diaminopimelate (dap) moiety of one peptide and the penultimate d-alanine of another peptide or between two dap residues. we previously described a collection o ... | 2005 | 15716431 |
| the human cd1-restricted t cell repertoire is limited to cross-reactive antigens: implications for host responses against immunologically related pathogens. | the repertoires of cd1- and mhc-restricted t cells are complementary, permitting the immune recognition of both lipid and peptide ags, respectively. to compare the breadth of the cd1-restricted and mhc-restricted t cell repertoires, we evaluated t cell responses against lipid and peptide ags of mycobacteria in leprosy, comparing tuberculoid patients, who are able to restrict the pathogen, and lepromatous patients, who have disseminated infection. the striking finding was that in lepromatous lepr ... | 2005 | 15728470 |
| co-infection of mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae in human archaeological samples: a possible explanation for the historical decline of leprosy. | both leprosy and tuberculosis were prevalent in europe during the first millennium but thereafter leprosy declined. it is not known why this occurred, but one suggestion is that cross-immunity protected tuberculosis patients from leprosy. to investigate any relationship between the two diseases, selected archaeological samples, dating from the roman period to the thirteenth century, were examined for both mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium tuberculosis dna, using pcr. the work was carried ou ... | 2005 | 15734693 |
| detection of mycobacterium leprae in nasal mucosa biopsies by the polymerase chain reaction. | several discoveries about leprosy indicate that mycobacterium leprae transmission mainly occurs by inhalation, and the nose is major port of entry and exit. the present study evaluated the clinical application of pcr for detection of m. leprae dna in nasal mucosa biopsies in untreated leprosy patients (52) and their contacts (99) from the state reference center in sanitary dermatology and leprosy, uberlandia, mg, brazil. pcr detection of a 372-base pair dna fragment from m. leprae was accomplish ... | 2005 | 15907454 |
| contribution of the mycobacterium tuberculosis mmpl protein family to virulence and drug resistance. | the genome sequence of mycobacterium tuberculosis revealed the presence of 12 membrane proteins proposed to have a function in the transport of lipids. insertional inactivation of 11 of these has revealed that only 1 (mmpl3) is apparently essential for viability. five of these proteins are conserved within the genome of mycobacterium leprae. the drug susceptibilities of these 11 mutants to a broad spectrum of agents are unaltered, suggesting that unlike their function in other organisms, these p ... | 2005 | 15908378 |
| mapping the laminin-binding and adhesive domain of the cell surface-associated hlp/lbp protein from mycobacterium leprae. | binding of mycobacterium leprae to and invasion of schwann cells (sc) represent a crucial step that initiates nerve damage in leprosy. we and others have described that m. leprae colonization of the peripheral nerve system may be mediated in part by a surface-exposed histone-like protein (hlp), characterized as a laminin-binding protein (lbp). hlp/lbp has also been shown to play a role in the binding of mycobacteria to alveolar epithelial cells and macrophages. in the present study we report tha ... | 2005 | 15919224 |
| subcellular localization of mycobacteria in tissues and detection of lipid antigens in organelles using cryo-techniques for light and electron microscopy. | the survival of intracellular pathogens within a host is determined by microbial evasion, which can be partially attributed to their subcellular trafficking strategies. microscopic techniques have become increasingly important in understanding the cell biology of microbial infections. these recently developed techniques can be used for the subcellular localization of antigens not only in cultured cells but also within tissues such as mycobacterium tuberculosis in lung and mycobacterium leprae in ... | 2005 | 15939357 |
| cloning of mce1 locus of mycobacterium leprae in mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 smr5 and evaluation of expression of mce1 genes in m. smegmatis and m. leprae. | plasmid pset152 is a broad host range mobilizable vector which integrates into streptomyces chromosome utilizing att site and int function of slashed circlec31. transformation of this plasmid into mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 smr5 gave stable transformants carrying the pset152 as an integrated copy. integration occurred at the cross over sequence 5'ttg disrupting the gata gene (glu-trna(gln) amidotransferase subunita), which is non-essential under conditions used. recombinant pset152 plasmids ... | 2005 | 15949925 |
| insights into regulation of human schwann cell proliferation by erk1/2 via a mek-independent and p56lck-dependent pathway from leprosy bacilli. | activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (erk) 1/2, which plays a critical role in diverse cellular processes, including cell proliferation, is known to be mediated by the canonical raf-mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (mek) kinase cascade. alternative mek-independent signaling pathways for erk1/2 activation in mammalian cells are not known. during our studies of human primary schwann cell response to long-term infection of mycobacterium leprae, the causative organism of lepros ... | 2005 | 15967991 |
| lucio's phenomenon: a case report and review of the literature. | 2005 | 15985025 | |
| immunogenic membrane-associated proteins of mycobacterium tuberculosis revealed by proteomics. | membrane-associated proteins of mycobacterium tuberculosis offer a challenge, as well as an opportunity, in the quest for better therapeutic and prophylactic interventions against tuberculosis. the authors have previously reported that extraction with the detergent triton x-114 (tx-114) is a useful step in proteomic analysis of mycobacterial cell membranes, and detergent-soluble membrane proteins of mycobacteria are potent stimulators of human t cells. in this study 1-d and 2-d gel electrophores ... | 2005 | 16000731 |
| [how leprosy has invaded the world]. | 2005 | 16025895 | |
| is there an answer? is there a genetic basis for human susceptibility to leprosy? | 2005 | 16036571 | |
| report on the first meeting of the ideal (initiative for diagnostic and epidemiological assays for leprosy) consortium held at armauer hansen research institute, alert, addis ababa, ethiopia on 24-27 october 2004. | 2005 | 16038248 | |
| leprosy and hiv co-infection in five patients. | in a retrospective study, five patients are reported who suffered from a mycobacterium leprae/hiv co-infection and were treated for their hiv infection with haart. in four patients, this revealed their leprosy and induced a type i leprosy reaction. two patients who were lepromin negative at diagnosis were retested after about 1 year of anti-retroviral treatment, and found to be positive. | 2005 | 16038250 |
| leprosy acquired by inoculation from a knee injury. | this case study reports on the development of clinical leprosy in a young caucasian female from a non-endemic country who contracted the disease while living in a leprosy endemic country. in the presentation and discussion, some relevant factors will be reviewed and discussed that may play a role in the transmission, susceptibility and clinical development of the disease. | 2005 | 16038253 |
| factors associated with severe granulomatous pneumonia in mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected mice vaccinated therapeutically with hsp65 dna. | resistant c57bl/6 mice infected in the lungs with mycobacterium tuberculosis and then therapeutically vaccinated with mycobacterium leprae-derived hsp65 dna develop severe granulomatous pneumonia and tissue damage. analysis of cells accumulating in the lungs of these animals revealed substantial increases in t cells secreting tumor necrosis factor alpha and cd8 cells staining positive for granzyme b. stimulation of lung cells ex vivo revealed very high levels of interleukin-10, some of which was ... | 2005 | 16041037 |
| a study on trend of relapse in leprosy and factors influencing relapse. | a retrospective analysis of data pertaining to the rural field operation area of the central leprosy teaching and research institute, chengalpattu, tamil nadu, was carried out to determine the magnitude of relapse after mdt and its significance with other variables. the study included 3248 leprosy patients who have successfully completed treatment during 1987-2003, of whom 2892 were pb and 356 mb cases. a total of 58 cases of relapse was reported which gives a crude cumulative relapse rate of 1. ... | 2005 | 16044808 |
| use of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for the detection of mycobacterium leprae in the slit-skin smears of leprosy patients. | the relevance of bacterial index (bi) for understanding the prognosis of leprosy patients on treatment has been extensively debated, as it does not give a very clear idea of the viability of the bacteria in patients under treatment. here we used slit-skin smear samples of leprosy patients to test the suitability for studying viability of mycobacterium leprae using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr). for this purpose, we recruited 13 multibacillary (mb) leprosy patients (8 l ... | 2005 | 16044809 |
| leprosy scenario in southern part of dakshina kannada district, karnataka, after 16 years of control work. | this article examines the changes that occurred in epidemiological indices over a period of 16 years following the introduction of mdt in ullal town, south of mangalore city, having a population of 130,000. the analysis indicates that new case-detection rates and prevalence rates showed a declining trend due to shorter duration of treatment with mdt. there was a ten-fold reduction in the prevalence rate during the first 6 years, from 23 in 1987 (230 cases) to 2.76 per 10,000 (29 cases) at the en ... | 2005 | 16044810 |
| fnac study of histoid nodule: an early tool for diagnosis. | histoid lesion, a variety of lepromatous leprosy, is due to alteration in the growth pattern of mycobacterium leprae, possibly due to loss of immunity in localized areas. the distinction is based on cellular morphology by demonstrating pallisading arrangement of multi-layered spindle-shaped histocytes. cytodiagnosis by fine needle aspiration cytology is therefore an early tool to recognize the histoid variety, differentiating it from a conventional ll module, as it is a simple and less traumatic ... | 2005 | 16044811 |
| borderline tuberculoid leprosy localised over a scar. | 2005 | 16044818 | |
| 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 |
| [diagnostic tests: mycobacterium leprae]. | 2005 | 16111215 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [a role of polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of leprosy]. | 2005 | 16130429 | |
| 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 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 |
| genetic polymorphism among mycobacterium leprae strains from northern india, by using ttc repeats. | 2005 | 16173423 | |
| 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 |