Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| in vitro polymerization of mycobacterium leprae ftsz or mycobacterium tuberculosis ftsz is revived or abolished, respectively, by reciprocal mutation of a single residue. | a single residue that dramatically influences polymerization of principal cell division protein ftsz of mycobacterium leprae (mlftsz) and mycobacterium tuberculosis (mtftsz) has been identified. soluble, recombinant mlftsz did not show polymerization in vitro, in contrast to mtftsz, which polymerised. mutation of the lone non-conserved residue t172 in the n-terminal domain of mlftsz to a172, as it exists in mtftsz, showed dramatic polymerization of mlftsz-t172a in vitro. reciprocal mutation of a ... | 2008 | 18249190 |
| genome scale portrait of camp-receptor protein (crp) regulons in mycobacteria points to their role in pathogenesis. | camp receptor protein (crp)/fumarate nitrate reductase regulator (fnr) family proteins are ubiquitous regulators of cell stress in eubacteria. these proteins are commonly associated with maintenance of intracellular oxygen levels, redox-state, oxidative and nitrosative stresses, and extreme temperature conditions by regulating expression of target genes that contain regulatory cognate dna elements. we describe the use of informatics enabled comparative genomics to identify novel genes under the ... | 2008 | 18022770 |
| unique structural features of the peptidoglycan of mycobacterium leprae. | the peptidoglycan structure of mycobacterium spp. has been investigated primarily with the readily cultivable mycobacterium smegmatis and mycobacterium tuberculosis and has been shown to contain unusual features, including the occurrence of n-glycolylated, in addition to n-acetylated, muramic acid residues and direct cross-linkage between meso-diaminopimelic acid residues. based on results from earlier studies, peptidoglycan from in vivo-derived noncultivable mycobacterium leprae was assumed to ... | 2008 | 18024514 |
| scavenging of reactive nitrogen species by mycobacterial truncated hemoglobins. | tuberculosis and leprosy are among the most challenging infectious threats to human health. the ability of mycobacteria to persist in vivo in the presence of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species implies the presence in these bacteria of effective detoxification (pseudoenzymatic) systems. mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae truncated hemoglobins (trhbs) belonging to group i (or n; trhbn) and group ii (or o; trhbo) have recently been implicated in the scavenging of nitrogen monoxid ... | 2008 | 18237641 |
| rational combination of peptides derived from different mycobacterium leprae proteins improves sensitivity for immunodiagnosis of m. leprae infection. | the stable incidence of new leprosy cases suggests that transmission of infection is continuing despite the worldwide implementation of multidrug therapy programs. highly specific tools are required to accurately diagnose asymptomatic and early stage mycobacterium leprae infections which are the likely sources of transmission and cannot be identified by using the detection of antibodies against phenolic glycolipid i. one of the hurdles hampering t-cell-based diagnostic tests is that m. leprae an ... | 2008 | 18199740 |
| performance of a lateral flow test for the detection of leprosy patients in india. | 2008 | 18065681 | |
| the use of the name mycobacterium w for the leprosy immunotherapeutic bacillus creates confusion with m. tuberculosis-w (beijing strain): a suggestion. | 2008 | 17766188 | |
| leprosy type 1 (reversal) reactions and their management. | the type of leprosy that affects an individual depends on the immune response mounted against the organism. this leads to a spectrum of disease which may be complicated by immunological phenomena called reactions. antimicrobial chemotherapy is effective in treating the mycobacterium leprae infection but up to 30% of individuals with borderline disease experience type 1 reactions (t1rs). t1rs are immunologically mediated episodes, localised in skin and nerves, which are a major cause of nerve fun ... | 2008 | 19274984 |
| the role of free-living pathogenic amoeba in the transmission of leprosy: a proof of principle. | leprosy transmission remains poorly understood, though, prolonged skin contact and/or infection via nasal mucosa, are considered likely. problematic in any transmission hypothesis is the fastidious nature of mycobacterium leprae outside its host cell and the requirement for temporary survival in the environment, soil or water. experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that free living pathogenic amoeba might serve as host cells for m. leprae, protecting them from adverse environmental ... | 2008 | 19274986 |
| 17th international leprosy congress, hyderabad. reports of pre-congress workshops held on january 29th-30th, 2008. | 2008 | 19425514 | |
| analysis of chemokine receptors on the surface of circulating leukocytes of individuals infected with mycobacterium leprae: preliminary results. | in this study, the expression of chemokine receptors on the surface of circulating leukocytes was determined using flow cytometry. an increase in the percentage of ccr2+cd4+ lymphocytes was observed in the peripheral blood of leprosy patients. this preliminary data suggests that alterations occur in the chemokine receptor profile of these patients. | 2008 | 19618084 |
| [evaluation of training programs in hansen's disease: opinion of physicians and nurses of family health teams]. | hansen's disease is a contagious, milenar disease caused by the mycobacterium leprae that manifests itself in the cutaneal cells and the peripheral nerves. in the decade of 1990, the control for the disease was descentralized from the state to the municipality level. a northeastern state in brazil implemented a series of training programs for health professionals in primary attention. the objective of this study was to evaluate these training programs, based on the opinions of the physicians and ... | 2008 | 19009106 |
| antileprosy activity and preliminary toxicological characteristics of some dialkyldithiocarbamate derivatives. | antileprosy activity of dialkyldithiocarbamate derivatives was studied in experiments on mice infected with m. leprae into paw pads. we found that 2-diethyldithiocarbamoyl-3-cyano-5-nitropyridine is the most promising antileprosy agent; it effectively suppresses multiplication of m. leprae and is well tolerated under conditions of chronic animal experiment. | 2008 | 19110590 |
| lepromatous leprosy. | lepromatous leprosy is a form of chronic granulomatous disease that is caused by infection with mycobacterium leprae. early involvement is marked by widespread, ill-defined, erythematous papules and plaques. with early intervention, leprosy is a curable disease; however, if not recognized and treated promptly, permanent sequelae and disability result. we present a patient with long-standing lepromatous leprosy who exhibits many of these sequelae. | 2008 | 19061626 |
| expression of adipose differentiation-related protein (adrp) and perilipin in macrophages infected with mycobacterium leprae. | mycobacterium leprae survives and replicates within a lipid droplet stored in the enlarged phagosome of histiocytes, a typical feature of lepromatous leprosy that is thought to be an important nutrient source for the bacillus. however, the underlying mechanisms by which lipids accumulate within phagosomes remain unclear. recently, it was revealed that the lipid droplet-associated proteins, including adrp and perilipin, play essential roles in lipid accumulation in adipocytes or macrophages. ther ... | 2008 | 19054096 |
| protein phosphorylation pattern in the immune cells of leprosy affected individuals. | leprosy is an infectious disease in which the susceptibility to the pathogen mycobacterium leprae and the clinical manifestations are attributed to host immune cell response. receptor mediated events and signalling in the immune cells are mediated by protein phosphorylation. the main signalling pathways and protein kinases known to be involved in the regulation of immune cells are camp dependent kinases, calcium/calmodulin dependent kinases, protein kinase c and mitogen activated protein kinases ... | 2008 | 19738337 |
| pgl-i leprosy serology. | 2008 | 19618067 | |
| the use of serology as an additional tool to support diagnosis of difficult multibacillary leprosy cases: lessons from clinical care. | seven multibacillary leprosy and two suspected cases assisted in different situations during clinical care activities at the university in rio de janeiro city are described. all cases presented some difficulties for diagnosis, since they evolved with few or no cardinal signs or symptoms of leprosy. a serological test used as an auxiliary tool was helpful in the diagnosis or exclusion procedure of each case, facilitating academic discussions at the time of case examination. considering serology a ... | 2008 | 19618072 |
| the influence of ml flow test in leprosy classification. | this is a descriptive, exploratory study correlating ml flow, bacilloscopy and classification of paucibacillary (pb) and multibacillary (mb), involving 1,041 new leprosy cases in 13 municipalities of minas gerais state, from october 2002 to march 2004. agreement between ml flow and the classification of the number of skin lesions and bacilloscopy was moderate (k:0.51 and k:0.48, respectively); and substantial for final classification (k:0.77). from january 2000 to march 2004, the proportion of n ... | 2008 | 19618073 |
| association of the ml flow serologic test to slit skin smear. | a descriptive, exploratory study was conducted analyzing the association of covariables in the results of the ml flow serological test and slit skin smear. a total of 60 leprosy cases diagnosed at the state sanitary dermatology referral center were investigated. slit skin smear samples were collected from four sites and the results were expressed by the bacillary index. ml flow was registered in both qualitative and semi-quantitative terms. cohen's kappa coefficient was used to study the agreeme ... | 2008 | 19618071 |
| evaluation of the agreement between clinical and laboratorial exams in the diagnosis of leprosy. | this study examined the correlation between the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of leprosy, using biopsy results from laboratories 'a' and 'b' and the ml flow test. clinical and histopathological diagnoses presented 67.6% agreement. the laboratories showed 73.7% agreement in the bacterial index and laboratory 'b' detected 25.4% more positives. the highest agreement was in the ll form and lowest, in the i form. the highest diagnostic discrepancy was for the bb form. clinical diagnosis agreement ... | 2008 | 19618076 |
| risk factors for ml flow seropositivity in leprosy patients. | the early diagnosis of leprosy, its correct classification and the risk factors related to seropositivity have become important for patient treatment and disease control, especially where the responsibility for treatment has been transferred to basic health care centers. this descriptive, exploratory study using logistic regression was undertaken to evaluate the association between the variables of sex, age, mode of detection, number of skin lesions and affected nerves, disability grade and baci ... | 2008 | 19618074 |
| leprosy serology (ml flow test) in borderline leprosy patients classified as paucibacillary by counting cutaneous lesions: an useful tool. | leprosy remains an endemic disease in brazil, with almost 40,000 new cases diagnosed each year. as it is difficult to perform laboratory procedures in the field, operational classification is determined by counting lesions, which can cause underdiagnosis of multibacillary cases and failures in treatment. to evaluate a new tool to diagnose mb cases, the ml flow test, 21/77 (27.3%) patients with untreated borderline leprosy (6 bl and 15 bt) with 1 to 5 cutaneous lesions were evaluated according to ... | 2008 | 19618075 |
| leprosy serology using pgl-i: a systematic review. | serology using a species-specific antigen for mycobacterium leprae, pgl-i, could be a marker for the bacterial load of patients with leprosy. various studies have identified the potential use of serology in the classification of patients for treatment purposes, case monitoring, identification of the risk of relapse and selection of household contacts with a higher risk of contracting the disease. a systematic review of the literature was conducted and 26 articles were included in this comparativ ... | 2008 | 19618069 |
| the result patterns of ml flow and elisa (pgl-i) serologic tests in leprosy-endemic and non-endemic areas. | ml flow and anti-pgl-i elisa are serological tests that detect igm antibodies against the phenolic glycolipid i (pgl-i), specific to mycobacterium leprae. to evaluate the outcomes of ml flow and elisa (pgl-i) serological tests in leprosy-endemic areas in comparison to non-endemic ones, a total of 351 volunteers from brazil and chile were examined, including leprosy patients, healthy controls and others affected by other infectious or non-infectious diseases that are common differential diagnoses ... | 2008 | 19618070 |
| seroprevalence of ml flow test in leprosy contacts from state of minas gerais, brazil. | leprosy is a public health problem in brazil. epidemiological control actions are based on the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy patients and household contact surveillance. serological tests for leprosy could identify from among the contacts those at greater risk of developing leprosy in the future. ml flow was administered to 2,840 household contacts of new leprosy cases diagnosed from october 2002 to march 2004, in state of minas gerais. ml flow was positive in 20.5% of leprosy contacts, wit ... | 2008 | 19618077 |
| association between leprosy reactions after treatment and bacterial load evaluated using anti pgl-i serology and bacilloscopy. | leprosy (hansen's disease, hd) reactions are immune-inflammatory phenomena that occur during the evolution of the disease. given the current criteria for treatment of the disease, this event is often observed after the patient has been released from treatment (rft) from multi-drug therapy (mdt). a case-control study was conducted comparing laboratory results of cases of leprosy reactions after rft from multibacillary mdt (mdt/mb) with a control group to analyze the possible association between p ... | 2008 | 19618079 |
| leprosy-specific oral lesions: a report of three cases. | leprosy is a chronic infection caused by mycobacterium leprae, a bacillus that presents a peculiar tropism for the skin and peripheral nerves. the clinical spectrum of leprosy ranges from the tuberculoid form (tt) to the disseminative and progressive lepromatous form (ll). oral lesions are rare but, when present, occur in the lepromatous form. this article describes the clinical and microscopic findings of three cases of ll with oral manifestations. all patients had the lepromatous form and thei ... | 2008 | 18667979 |
| immune cellular parameters of leprosy and human immunodeficiency virus-1 co-infected subjects. | leprosy and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (hiv-1) are examples of human infections where interactions between the pathogen and the host cellular immunity determine the clinical manifestations of disease. hence, a significant immunopathological interaction between hiv-1 and leprosy might be expected. in the present study we explored several aspects of cellular immunity in patients co-infected with hiv-1 and mycobacterium leprae. twenty-eight individuals were studied, comprising four groups: heal ... | 2008 | 18284466 |
| protective efficacy of different strategies employing mycobacterium leprae heat-shock protein 65 against tuberculosis. | tuberculosis is a major threat to human health. the high disease burden remains unaffected and the appearance of extremely drug-resistant strains in different parts of the world argues in favor of the urgent need for a new effective vaccine. one of the promising candidates is heat-shock protein 65 when used as a genetic vaccine (dnahsp65). nonetheless, there are substantial data indicating that bcg, the only available anti-tb vaccine for clinical use, provides other important beneficial effects ... | 2008 | 18694348 |
| the functional state of the complement system in leprosy. | ninety-one patients with different clinical forms of leprosy, 36 lepromatous (ll), 33 tuberculoid (tl), and 22 dimorphic (dl), and 31 healthy volunteer donors were included in this study. total complement system (cs) activity was assessed by hemolytic methods, whereas individual components were quantified by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. under conditions allowing initiation of cascade by the classic pathway (cp) but not alternative pathway (ap) activation, significant cs consumption was ... | 2008 | 18385356 |
| erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase activities and blood glutathione content in leprosy. | leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by mycobacterium leprae involving cutaneous tissue and peripheral nerves producing skin lesions, nerve degeneration, anaesthesia and deformities. in leprosy, the activated phagocytes produce reactive oxygen species (ros) as a part of their microbicidal function. such ros are capable of damaging the host tissue by lipid peroxidation. increased lipid peroxidation has been reported in leprosy. the glutathione antioxidant system with glutathione pe ... | 2008 | 18440071 |
| leprosy: diagnostic and control challenges for a worldwide disease. | leprosy is a curable disease with well-defined etiology, but lacks better diagnostic tools, preventive and therapeutic strategies. the continued application of the ridley-jopling clinical classification that recognizes the natural diversity of the immune response has provided the basis for understanding leprosy, and this review proposes its implementation in all reference centers in order to standardize the diagnostic resources, aiming at the improvement of the disease control. due to the broad ... | 2008 | 18461340 |
| powerful bactericidal activity of moxifloxacin in human leprosy. | in a clinical trial of moxifloxacin in eight multibacillary leprosy patients, moxifloxacin proved highly effective. in all trial patients, a single 400-mg dose of moxifloxacin resulted in significant killing (p <or= 0.006) of mycobacterium leprae, ranging from 82% to 99%, with a mean of 91%. in all instances, no viable bacilli were detected with an additional 3 weeks of daily therapy, this observed rapid bactericidal activity being matched previously only by rifampin. on moxifloxacin therapy, sk ... | 2008 | 18573938 |
| erbb2: nonimmune genetic key to leprosy. | 2008 | 18583808 | |
| long simple sequence repeats in host-adapted pathogens localize near genes encoding antigens, housekeeping genes, and pseudogenes. | simple sequence repeats (ssrs) in dna sequences are tandem iterations of a single nucleotide or a short oligonucleotide. ssrs are subject to slipped-strand mutations and a common source of phase variation in bacteria and antigenic variation in pathogens. significantly long ssrs are generally rare in prokaryotic genomes, and long ssrs composed of iterations of mono-, di-, tri-, and tetranucleotides are mostly restricted to host-adapted pathogens. we present new results concerning associations bet ... | 2008 | 18925380 |
| do human gammadelta t cells respond to m tuberculosis protein antigens? | 2008 | 19029457 | |
| recovery of ifn-gamma levels in pbmcs from lepromatous leprosy patients through the synergistic actions of the cytokines il-12 and il-18. | the shift to the production of a th1 cytokine profile during an intracellular infection has been shown to depend on antigen presenting cells-derived il-12 and t-cell-derived ifn-gamma production. il-18 facilitates th1 priming in synergy with il-12 through the stimulation of ifn-gamma production by t cells, b cells, nk cells, macrophages and dcs. a low level of ifn-gamma production in pbmc cultures from lepromatous leprosy patients (ll) has been previously reported by several groups. we evaluated ... | 2008 | 18708162 |
| host-derived oxidized phospholipids and hdl regulate innate immunity in human leprosy. | intracellular pathogens survive by evading the host immune system and accessing host metabolic pathways to obtain nutrients for their growth. mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, is thought to be the mycobacterium most dependent on host metabolic pathways, including host-derived lipids. although fatty acids and phospholipids accumulate in the lesions of individuals with the lepromatous (also known as disseminated) form of human leprosy (l-lep), the origin and significance of the ... | 2008 | 18636118 |
| wade histoid leprosy masquerading as eruptive xanthomas. | 2008 | 19061579 | |
| survey to identify mycobacterium leprae-infected household contacts of patients from prevalent regions of leprosy in colombia. | leprosy in colombia is in the post-elimination phase; nevertheless, there are regions of this country where the incidence is still around 3-4/100,000. early detection of leprosy patients is a priority for achieving control and elimination of leprosy; however, the clinical exam is not very sensitive and thus, the majority of patients are diagnosed only when they demonstrate lesions, and damage to the nerves and skin has already occurred. the goal of the present study was to identify mycobacterium ... | 2008 | 18660985 |
| selection of antigens and development of prototype tests for point-of-care leprosy diagnosis. | leprosy can be a devastating chronic infection that causes nerve function impairment and associated disfigurement. despite the recent reduction in the number of registered worldwide leprosy cases as a result of the widespread use of multidrug therapy, the number of new cases detected each year remains relatively stable. the diagnosis of leprosy is currently based on the appearance of clinical signs and requires expert clinical, as well as labor-intensive and time-consuming laboratory or histolog ... | 2008 | 18716007 |
| efficient chemical synthesis of a dodecasaccharidyl lipomannan component of mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan. | lipomannan (lm) is one of the domains of lipoarabinomannan (lam) glycolipids, the latter being one of several cell surface organic molecules that fortify mycobacterial species against external attack. some members of mycobacterial families are pathogenic, most notably mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, while others are nonpathogenic, and used in the clinic, such as mycobacterium smegmatis. additional biological significance arises from the fact that lm has been implicated in se ... | 2008 | 18989931 |
| administration of m. leprae hsp65 interferes with the murine lupus progression. | the heat shock protein [hsp] family guides several steps during protein synthesis, are abundant in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and are highly conserved during evolution. the hsp60 family is involved in assembly and transport of proteins, and is expressed at very high levels during autoimmunity or autoinflammatory phenomena. here, the pathophysiological role of the wild type [wt] and the point mutated k(409)a recombinant hsp65 of m. leprae in an animal model of systemic lupus erythematosus ... | 2008 | 18716655 |
| rapid hiv testing among leprosy patients: a brazilian experience. | 2008 | 19000392 | |
| antigen-specific t-cell responses of leprosy patients. | the identification of human t-cell antigens of mycobacterium leprae could improve treatment and help to disrupt the transmission of leprosy by directing diagnosis and vaccine programs. this study screened a panel of m. leprae recombinant proteins for t-cell recall responses, measured by gamma interferon (ifn-gamma) production, among leprosy patients. after initial studies using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from leprosy patients, we transitioned our studies to simple whole-blood assays (wba ... | 2008 | 18784342 |
| the role of the armadillo and sooty mangabey monkey in human leprosy. | the armadillo was the first animal model of leprosy. its role in the transmission of leprosy remains controversial. the sooty mangabey model of leprosy led to the discovery that rhesus monkeys were more susceptible to leprosy when coinfected with simian immunodeficiency virus (siv), but that leprosy may play a protective role against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) mortality. recently, molecular methods have been developed for leprosy and may help resolve the role of zoonoses in lepros ... | 2008 | 18477141 |
| characterization of langerhans cells in epidermal sheets along the body of armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus). | armadillos are apparently important reservoirs of mycobacterium leprae and an animal model for human leprosy, whose immune system has been poorly studied. we aimed at characterizing the armadillo's langerhans cells (lc) using epidermal sheets instead of tissue sections, since the latter restrict analysis only to cut-traversed cells. epidermal sheets by providing an en face view, are particularly convenient to evaluate dendritic morphology (cells are complete), spatial distribution (regular vs. c ... | 2008 | 18482772 |
| the 3'utr 1188 a/c polymorphism in the interleukin-12p40 gene (il-12b) is associated with lepromatous leprosy in the west of mexico. | leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. il-12 participates in the immune response against m. leprae by regulating t cell differentiation into the th1-type response. several single nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified in the il-12 gene such as 3'utr 1188 a/c polymorphism, which is associated with different diseases. however, the relationship of this polymorphism with the immune response in leprosy has not been explored. in this case-control study, we evalu ... | 2008 | 18485489 |
| are variable-number tandem repeats appropriate for genotyping mycobacterium leprae? | comparative genomics analysis of the tamil nadu strain of mycobacterium leprae has uncovered several polymorphic sites with potential as epidemiological tools. in this study we compared the stability of two different markers of genomic biodiversity of m. leprae in several biopsy samples isolated from the same leprosy patient. the first type comprises five different variable-number tandem repeats (vntr), while the second is composed of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (snp). contrasting resu ... | 2008 | 18495858 |
| integrin beta 4 in neural cells. | integrin beta 4, one of the heterodimeric receptors, is expressed predominantly on epithelial cells. it is concentrated at the basement membrane zone, where it localizes to specialized adhesion structures called hemidesmosomes. in addition to its adhesive functions, novel insights have emerged regarding the specific roles of integrin beta 4 in their attachment to extracellular matrix and in their signal transduction pathways within the central nervous system (cns) and peripheral nervous system i ... | 2008 | 18516507 |
| armauer hansen (1841-1912): discoverer of the cause of leprosy. | 2008 | 18695857 | |
| localized lepromatous leprosy in household contact of multibacillary disease. | lepromatous leprosy (ll) is a generalized disease, usually with numerous papules, nodules, or plaques containing abundant mycobacterium leprae and affecting wide areas of the skin. | 2008 | 18544298 |
| h2o2 and (.)no scavenging by mycobacterium leprae truncated hemoglobin o. | kinetics of ferric mycobacterium leprae truncated hemoglobin o (trhbofe(iii)) oxidation by h2o2 and of trhbofe(iv)o reduction by (.)no and no2- are reported. the value of the second-order rate constant for h2o2-mediated oxidation of trhbofe(iii) is 2.4 x 10(3) m(-1) s(-1). the value of the second-order rate constant for (.)no-mediated reduction of trhbofe(iv)o is 7.8 x 10(6) m(-1) s(-1). the value of the first-order rate constant for trhbofe(iii)ono decay to the resting form trhbofe(iii) is 2.1 ... | 2008 | 18544337 |
| expression and characterization of recombinant interferon gamma (ifn-gamma) from the nine-banded armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus) and its effect on mycobacterium leprae-infected macrophages. | armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus) manifest the full histopathological spectrum of leprosy, and are hosts of choice for in vivo propagation of mycobacterium leprae. though potentially useful as a model of leprosy pathogenesis, few armadillo-specific reagents exist. we have identified a region of high homology to the interferon gamma (ifn-gamma) of other mammals within the recently published armadillo whole genomic sequence. cdna was made from cona-stimulated armadillo peripheral blood mononuclear ... | 2008 | 18558493 |
| does clofazimine (b663) reach mycobacterium leprae persisting in schwann cells and endothelial cells of endoneurial blood vessels in peripheral nerves? | peripheral nerve biopsies from 10 lepromatous leprosy (ll) patients who were on multidrug treatment (mdt) were investigated by light and electron microscopy. clofazimine (clf) has been included as an essential component of mdt, which is the standard who regimen for treatment of leprosy. the patients receiving continuous mdt for a long period had viable bacilli in schwann cells (scs) of peripheral nerves whereas they had disappeared from the skin. our ultrastructural observations clearly indicate ... | 2008 | 18567015 |
| detection of viable mycobacterium leprae in soil samples: insights into possible sources of transmission of leprosy. | leprosy has ceased to be a public health problem world wide, after the successful implementation of effective chemotherapy (mdt) and use of control measures. however, new cases of leprosy continue to occur. mycobacterium leprae cannot be grown in any acceptable culture medium and besides the wild armadillos, there is no known animal reservoir for leprosy. the transmission of leprosy is believed to be due to a large extent by droplet discharge of bacilli through nose and mouth and to a lesser ext ... | 2008 | 18599381 |
| a new mycobacterium species causing diffuse lepromatous leprosy. | mycobacterium leprae causes leprosy. m leprae strains collected worldwide have been genetically clonal, which poorly explains the varying severity and clinical features of the disease. we discovered a new mycobacterium species from 2 patients who died of diffuse lepromatous leprosy (dll). the mycobacterium was purified from heavily infected, freshly frozen autopsy liver tissue followed by dna extraction in 1 case. paraffin-embedded skin tissue was used for dna extraction in another case. six gen ... | 2008 | 19019760 |
| in silico comparison of simple sequence repeats in high nucleotides-rich genomes of microorganism. | this study determined the distribution of a specific group of simple sequence repeats (ssrs), in genome sequences of 7 chromosomes (shigella flexneri 2a str 301 and 2457 t, shigella sonnei, e. coli k12, m. tuberculosis, m. leprae and s. saprophytycus) have downloaded from the genbank database for identifying abundance, distribution and composition of ssrs. the data obtained in the present study show that: (i) tandem repeats are widely distributed throughout the genomes. (ii) ssrs are differentia ... | 2008 | 19137845 |
| serological diagnosis of leprosy in patients in vietnam by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with mycobacterium leprae-derived major membrane protein ii. | a serological diagnostic test using phenolic glycolipid-i (pgl-i) developed in the 1980s is commercially available, but the method is still inefficient in detecting all forms of leprosy. therefore, more-specific and -reliable serological methods have been sought. we have characterized major membrane protein ii (mmp-ii) as a candidate protein for a new serological antigen. in this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) using the mmp-ii antigen (mmp- ... | 2008 | 18945881 |
| enumeration of mycobacterium leprae using real-time pcr. | mycobacterium leprae is not cultivable in axenic media, and direct microscopic enumeration of the bacilli is complex, labor intensive, and suffers from limited sensitivity and specificity. we have developed a real-time pcr assay for quantifying m. leprae dna in biological samples. primers were identified to amplify a shared region of the multicopy repeat sequence (rlep) specific to m. leprae and tested for sensitivity and specificity in the taqman format. the assay was specific for m. leprae and ... | 2008 | 18982056 |
| [utility of molecular biology in the microbiological diagnosis of mycobacterial infections]. | species within the mycobacterium genus are of major medical interest, since, together with environmental and opportunistic species, there are two species (mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae) that remain an important public health challenge. despite efforts to control tuberculosis (tb), this disease remains one of the most prominent health problems worldwide. in the last few years, mycobacteriology has experienced major technological advances. nevertheless, the early diagnosis of ... | 2008 | 19195445 |
| morphological and functional characterizations of schwann cells stimulated with mycobacterium leprae. | nerve damage, a characteristic of leprosy, is the cause of patient deformities and a consequence of schwann cells (sc) infection by mycobacterium leprae. although function/dysfunction of sc in human diseases like leprosy is difficult to study, many in vitro models, including sc lines derived from rat and/or human schwannomas, have been employed. st88-14 is one of the cell lineages used by many researchers as a model for m. leprae/sc interaction. however, it is necessary to establish the values a ... | 2008 | 18660991 |
| [drug resistance of multibacillary leprosy patients in japan--results of molecular genetic analyses]. | gene mutation of mycobacterium leprae was studied on bacilli-positive multibacillary leprosy patients since 2000 in japan. subjects: ll 31 cases, bl 7 cases. results: gene mutation of folp was found in 19/36 cases (52.8%), that of rpob in 13/33 cases (39.4%), that of gyra in 6/31 cases (16.8%). five cases showed both mutations of folp and rpob, and one case showed those of fol/p and gyra. mutations of folp, rpob andgyra all were found in 4/36 cases (10.3%). high incidence of resistance to dds or ... | 2008 | 18800639 |
| the biology of nerve injury in leprosy. | the steps in the pathogenesis of nerve injury in leprosy are depicted in figure 1. localisation of m. leprae to nerve, schwann cell infection & responses, as yet unknown mechanisms of injury, axonal atrophy, and finally demyelination. these steps, and the mechanisms responsible for them, occur quickly in the course of this disease (as noted, even the earliest diagnostic lesions have sensory abnormalities), but they are also chronic processes that may contribute to progressive nerve injury over a ... | 2008 | 19009974 |
| erythema nodosum leprosum in nepal: a retrospective study of clinical features and response to treatment with prednisolone or thalidomide. | erythema nodosum leprosum (enl) is an inflammatory reaction, which may occur in the course of leprosy and may result in nerve function impairment and subsequent disability. | 2008 | 19009975 |
| [detection of mycobacterium leprae dna in nasal swab]. | studies have demonstrated high sensibility of the polimerase chain reaction (pcr) technique in the identification of the mycobacterium leprae dna . this study aimed to evalue the pcr sensibility at the detection of the m. leprae dna in nasal swab of leprosy patients and to compare the results with the bacilloscopy and multibacillary (mbs) and paucibacilares (pbs) forms. nasal secretion samples of 24 leprosy patients were collected, and were preserved in one and two lise's solution. the pcr resul ... | 2008 | 19009116 |
| an 8-12 year follow-up of highly bacillated indian leprosy patients treated with who multi-drug therapy. | to follow up highly bacillated leprosy patients for a long period after release from treatment (rft) and to look out for possibility of relapses. | 2008 | 19009979 |
| activation of complement by mycobacterium leprae requires disruption of the bacilli. | the immune-mediated events that precipitate erythema nodosum leprosum (enl) are not well understood. one component may be the complexing of antibody with antigens released from infected macrophages, the activation of complement and the subsequent local inflammation. we assess here the ability of highly-purified, disrupted m. leprae, to activate complement. | 2008 | 19009980 |
| functional insights by comparison of modeled structures of 18kda small heat shock protein and its mutant in mycobacterium leprae. | in this work we are proposing homology modeled structures of mycobacterium leprae 18kda heat shock protein and its mutant. the more closely related structure of the small heat shock protein (shsp) belonging to the eukaryotic species from wheat shsp16.9 and 16.3kda acr1 protein from mycobacterium tuberculosis were used as template structures. each model contains an n-terminal domain, alpha-crystalline domain and a c-terminal tail. the models showed that a single point mutation from serine to prol ... | 2008 | 19255639 |
| assessment of subclinical leprosy infection through the measurement of pgl-1 antibody levels in residents of a former leprosy colony in thailand. | to investigate the hypothesis that there is continuing subclinical m. leprae infection, contributing to ongoing transmission of leprosy in phra-pradaeng colony. | 2008 | 19009981 |
| relapses in multibacillary leprosy patients after multidrug therapy. | to determine the magnitude of relapses in multibacillary leprosy patients after multi-drug therapy and to determine the factors influencing the relapse. | 2008 | 19009982 |
| two microbiological relapses in a patient with lepromatous leprosy. | a lepromatous patient treated with dapsone in the pre-mdt era to the point of smear negativity (> 6 years), relapsed 5 years after stopping treatment. he was then put on who-mdt for multibacillary (mb) leprosy, and was treated again; he had negative slit skin smears (3 years). he again presented with a relapse of leprosy 17 years after stopping treatment, and this time he presented with borderline leprosy in reaction. | 2008 | 19009984 |
| schwann cell invasion by m. leprae: the probable trojan horse. | 2008 | 19009985 | |
| can primary health centres offer care to the leprosy-disabled after integration with general health services?--a study in rural india. | 2008 | 19009987 | |
| functional characterization of a small heat shock protein from mycobacterium leprae. | small heat shock proteins are ubiquitous family of stress proteins, having a role in virulence and survival of the pathogen. m. leprae, the causative agent of leprosy is an uncultivable organism in defined media, hence the biology and function of proteins were examined by cloning m. leprae genes in heterologous hosts. the study on shsp18 was carried out as the knowledge about the functions of this major immunodominant antigen of m. leprae is scanty. | 2008 | 19040732 |
| long term follow-up results of 1 year mdt in mb leprosy patients treated with standard mdt + once a month minocycline and ofloxacin. | this study was initiated in consultation with the national leprosy eradication programme (nlep) in mid nineties to try new treatment regimens for leprosy which were more robust in terms of control of reactions, long term relapses, operationally easier to undertake and feasible in field conditions. it was also envisaged to see if the addition of newer bactericidal drugs would be beneficial. | 2008 | 20329382 |
| peripheral edema in lepromatous leprosy--could thalidomide be the culprit. | 2008 | 20329383 | |
| research regarding anti-pgl-i antibodies by elisa in wild armadillos from brazil. | armadillos have been involved in leprosy transmission and are considered a source of mycobacterium leprae in numerous reports. clinicians from certain areas of the usa consider contact with armadillos a risk factor for leprosy. however, there is a challenge associated with the role of wild armadillos perpetuating human leprosy in the american continent. the presence of anti-pgl-i antibodies was investigated in wild nine-banded armadillos from leprosy-endemic areas in state of espirito santo, bra ... | 2008 | 19618080 |
| the use of ml flow test in school children diagnosed with leprosy in the district of paracatu, minas gerais. | the detection rate of leprosy in the district of paracatu is high in the age group under 15 years-old, including about 6.8/10,000 inhabitants in 2003, and classified as hyperendemic. the study aimed to analyze the application of the pgl-1 (ml flow) serological test in 56 of 68 school-age patients of the public school system, diagnosed with leprosy through active case finding in paracatu, minas gerais state (2004 to 2006), with 71% classified as paucibacillary. of these, 85.2% lived in urban area ... | 2008 | 19618081 |
| evaluation of the expression of interleukin 1 beta (il-1beta) and interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (il-1ra) in leprosy patients. | leprosy is an infectious and contagious spectral disease accompanied by a series of immunological events triggered by the host's response to the etiologic agent, mycobacterium leprae. evidence suggests that the induction and maintenance of the immune/inflammatory response in leprosy are linked to multiple cell interactions and soluble factors, mainly through the action of cytokines. the elisa test was used to measure the levels of il-1beta and il-1ra in 37 new leprosy patients followed-up during ... | 2008 | 19618085 |
| the relation between seroprevalence of antibodies against phenolic glycolipid-i among school children and leprosy endemicity in brazil. | leprosy control programs would benefit expressively from an easy method to estimate disease prevalence and to assess the effect of leprosy control measures on disease prevalence. determination of the seroprevalence of antibodies to pgl-i through school children surveys might be a useful indicator of leprosy prevalence at the district level. to investigate whether seropositivity rates could be related to leprosy detection rates and whether seropositivity could be used as a proximal indicator to p ... | 2008 | 19618082 |
| challenges in the post genomic era for the development of tests for leprosy diagnosis. | leprosy diagnosis is based mainly on clinical manifestations and no laboratory test is available to diagnose asymptomatic disease or to predict disease progression among exposed individuals. novel comparative genomic in silico analyses and molecular biology tools have discovered unique mycobacterium leprae proteins with potential diagnostic application. tuberculoid paucibacillary leprosy (pb) shows low antibodies titers and strong th1 type/ ifn-gamma specific cell mediated immunity (cmi), while ... | 2008 | 19618083 |
| treatment regimens for leprosy. | 2008 | 20329379 | |
| development and evaluation of real-time rt-pcr assay for quantitative estimation of viable mycobacterium leprae in clinical samples. | detection of live organisms by molecular methods has special significance in leprosy where causative organism can not be cultivated in vitro. such techniques would be especially important for monitoring the progress of the disease. while real-time rt- pcr technology will be appropriate for this purpose, there is very little experience of use of such tools in leprosy. this study describes the development of a quantitative rt-pcr targeting 16s rrna based on primers used in a semi quantitative rt-p ... | 2008 | 20329380 |
| detection of mycobacterium leprae dna in nine-banded armadillos (dasypus novemcinctus) from the andean region of colombia. | to use dna detection methodologies to test for m. leprae in nine-banded armadillos inhabiting forested regions located around the cities and towns where leprosy patients have been identified. | 2009 | 20306641 |
| the epidemiological behaviour of leprosy in brazil. | the elimination strategy reduced known leprosy prevalence but the detection rate remains high in many countries, including brazil. the high brazilian detection rate imposes a limit to the reduction of known prevalence in the short term. the knowledge of time behaviour and spatial distribution of leprosy statistics will contribute to decision making for leprosy control. | 2009 | 19961107 |
| evidence for an association of hla-drb1*15 and drb1*09 with leprosy and the impact of drb1*09 on disease onset in a chinese han population. | human leukocyte antigens (hlas) have been proposed to modulate the immune response to mycobacterium leprae. the association of hla-drb1 with leprosy has been reported in several populations, but not in a chinese population. | 2009 | 20003324 |
| divergence of macrophage phagocytic and antimicrobial programs in leprosy. | effective innate immunity against many microbial pathogens requires macrophage programs that upregulate phagocytosis and direct antimicrobial pathways, two functions generally assumed to be coordinately regulated. we investigated the regulation of these key functions in human blood-derived macrophages. interleukin-10 (il-10) induced the phagocytic pathway, including the c-type lectin cd209 and scavenger receptors, resulting in phagocytosis of mycobacteria and oxidized low-density lipoprotein. il ... | 2009 | 19837374 |
| [peripheral nervous system and grounds for the neural insult in leprosy]. | the mechanism of interaction between mycobacterium leprae and neural cells has not been elucidated so far. no satisfactory interpretation exists as to the bacterium tropism to the peripheral nervous system in particular. the present study is a review of the micro-physiology of the extracellular apparatus attached to schwann cells, as well as on the description of morphological units probably involved in the process of the binding to the bacterial wall. | 2009 | 20098852 |
| histopathological lesions of apparently normal skin in leprosy patients. | this study was carried out on 50 patients with different clinical types of leprosy 38 males (76 % and 12 females (24%), ages ranged from 14 -70 years with a mean age +/- sd 49.22 +/- 12.97 years. mean disease duration was 5.65 years +/- sd = 9.27 selected to study a group of leprosy patients and compare the clinical parameters with histopathological findings and bacteriologic status of the skin to evaluate the relevance of their patients. patients were subjected to full medical history taking in ... | 2009 | 20120756 |
| cloning, expression and characterisation of an htra-like serine protease produced in vivo by mycobacterium leprae. | members of the high temperature requirement a (htra) family of chaperone proteases have been shown to play a role in bacterial pathogenesis. in a recent report, we demonstrated that the gene ml0176, which codes for a predicted htra-like protease, a gene conserved in other species of mycobacteria, is transcribed by mycobacterium leprae in human leprosy lesions. in the present study, the recombinant ml0176 protein was produced and its enzymatic properties investigated. m. lepraerecombinant ml0176 ... | 2009 | 20140374 |
| [immune response of hansen's disease. review]. | hansen's disease presents a wide spectrum of clinical and histopathological manifestations that reflect the nature of the immunological response of the host towards diverse mycobacterium leprae components. the immunological system, composed by both innate and adaptive immunology, offers protection towards infections of various etiologies, among them bacterial. bacteria, of course, have developed multiple strategies for evading host defenses, based on either very complex or simple mechanisms, but ... | 2009 | 20306725 |
| study of cross-reactivity of mycobacterium leprae reactive salivary iga with other environmental mycobacteria. | majority of the endemic population is exposed to mycobacterium leprae but very few develop disease. humoral mucosal immune response mediated through m. leprae reactive salivary antibodies has been suggested to be quite important in the protective immunity. as the endemic population is also exposed to many environmental mycobacteria, we tested saliva from 121 subjects for the cross-reactivity of the m. leprae reactive salivary antibodies to mycobacteria like m. smegmatis and m. phlei. saliva samp ... | 2009 | 20509334 |
| study of rifampicin resistance and comparison of dapsone resistance of m. leprae in pre- and post-mdt era. | the aim of this study to study the drug resistance patterns of dapsone (pre- and post-mdt) and rifampicin (post-mdt era). all the 84 patients from pre-mdt period (1985-1990) and 77 patients for post-mdt period (1990-2002) reporting to a tertiary care hospital-njil & omd, agra and referred for drug susceptibility testing were included in the study. drug resistance was studied by mouse foot pad method. dapsone resistance was high during pre-mdt era i.e. 8.3% (medium) and 19.1% (high) with an overa ... | 2009 | 20509341 |
| a case of advanced lepromatous leprosy with rhino-oro-laryngological involvement in the post-elimination era. | a patient presenting with symptoms and signs of congestive heart failure was incidentally found to be in advanced stage of leprosy. he had multiple lepromatous nodules over the entire body. the oral mucosa was yellowish with a matte appearance and the palate had a site ready to perforate. nasal cavity revealed a small septal perforation with overlying crusts suggesting advanced rhinitis. diagnosis of lepromatous leprosy was confirmed on histology. this case report emphasizes the existence of poc ... | 2009 | 20509337 |
| genotypic analysis of mycobacterium leprae strains from different regions of india on the basis of rpot. | mycobacterium leprae strains from indian leprosy patients were analyzed using the six base tandem repeat, gacatc, in rpot gene as genetic marker. dna was extracted from slit-skin smears and nasal swabs of new untreated as well as treated leprosy patients living in different regions of india. pcr amplification of rpot gene and sequencing of amplicons showed the presence of two genotype of m. leprae in this study, 73.4% having three copies (ancient indian type) and 26.6% contain 4 copies (consider ... | 2009 | 20509339 |
| potential of a metabolic gene (acca3) of m. leprae as a marker for leprosy reactions. | understanding the mechanism(s) of reactions in leprosy remains a challenging task for both clinicians and basic scientists. while there is some understanding of host processes associated with different type of lepra reactions, there is very little information about bacterial factors triggering these inflammatory processes. this study is continuation of our earlier research programme on leprosy genomics in which significant transcription of 11 genes was observed during active disease and these in ... | 2009 | 20509343 |
| clinico-epidemiological trends of leprosy in himachal pradesh: a five year study. | this retrospective study was done to determine the epidemiological and clinical profile of leprosy patients in a tertiary care centre, indira gandhi medical college, shimla, himachal pradesh, india. in this study, we included patients registered from january 2004 to december 2008 with the urban leprosy clinic of our tertiary care centre. data regarding demographic details, clinical features, treatment and complications was extracted from the records of the leprosy clinic. 163 patients attended t ... | 2009 | 20704072 |
| leprosy in a renal transplant recipient: review of the literature. | a 52-year-old male underwent living-related renal transplantation. he received prednisolone, azathioprine, and cyclosporine as immunosuppression protocol. eleven years after transplantation, he developed pyrexia with multiple nodular lesions on his limbs, trunk, and face. skin biopsy and smears showed the presence of numerous acid-fast bacilli with 5% sulfuric acid indicative of mycobacterium leprae. he was initiated on multidrug therapy (mdt) including dapsone, clofazimine, and rifampicin. afte ... | 2009 | 19656347 |