Publications

nerve damage in mycobacterium ulcerans-infected mice: probable cause of painlessness in buruli ulcer.	buruli ulcer is an emerging chronic painless skin disease found in the tropics and caused by mycobacterium ulcerans; however, it remains unknown why the large and deep ulcers associated with this disease remain painless. to answer this question, we examined the pathology of balb/c mice inoculated in the footpads with m. ulcerans african strain 97-107. on days 54 to 70 after inoculation, extensive dermal ulcers, subcutaneous edema, and numerous acid-fast bacilli were noted at the inoculate region ...	2006	16507896
ml0405 and ml2331 are antigens of mycobacterium leprae with potential for diagnosis of leprosy.	despite the success of multidrug therapy in reducing the number of registered leprosy cases worldwide, evidence suggests that mycobacterium leprae continues to be transmitted. a serological diagnostic test capable of identifying and allowing treatment of early-stage disease could reduce transmission and prevent the onset of the disability, a common complication of the disease in later stages. serological diagnosis based on antibody recognition of phenolic glycolipid i (pgl-i) cannot reliably ide ...	2006	16522774
truncated hemoglobin glbo from mycobacterium leprae alleviates nitric oxide toxicity.	as a consequence of reductive genome evolution, the obligate intracellular pathogen mycobacterium leprae has minimized the repertoire of genes implicated in defense against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. genes for multiple hemoglobin types coexist in mycobacterial genomes, but m. leprae has retained only glbo, encoding a group-ii truncated hemoglobin. mycobacterium tuberculosis glbo has been involved in oxygen transfer and respiration during hypoxia, but a role in protection from nitric o ...	2006	16524692
a clinical trial of ethionamide and prothionamide for treatment of lepromatous leprosy.	in 1982-1984 we conducted a six-month clinical trial in 50 previously untreated lepromatous leprosy patients randomly assigned to directly observed monotherapy with one of two thioamides, ethionamide or prothionamide, each given six times a week at doses of either 250 mg or 500 mg. the findings of this study have only recently been analyzed, and the potential for the use of these thioamides in leprosy patients placed in perspective. however, because of the small number of patients included in th ...	2006	16525107
infection by mycobacterium leprae of household contacts of lepromatous leprosy patients from a post-elimination leprosy region of colombia.	the leprosy control program of antioquia, (post-elimination leprosy state of colombia), had registered by 1999, 56 lepromatous leprosy patients and their household contacts (hhc). our interest was to detect mycobacterium leprae infection in these hhc. clinical examination, acid-fast bacillary staining (afb) in nasal secretions, and slit skin samples, igm anti-pgl-i in serum and lepromine a (mitsuda) reactivity were tested. two hundred forty eight hhc were studied, 49% were male. after clinical e ...	2006	16410954
controlling gene expression in mycobacteria.	the genus mycobacterium contains some of the most important human pathogens, including mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis in approximately 8 million people annually; mycobacterium leprae, the etiologic agent of leprosy, which affects millions of people in asia, africa and latin america; and mycobacterium bovis, which causes tuberculosis in animals and people. genetic tools for mycobacteria have been developed during the last 15 years and have helped to improve our understandin ...	2006	17661663
clinical diagnosis of leprosy cases.	the principle of leprosy control is based on secondary prevention with early detection of all cases and treatment with multidrug therapy. eradication of leprosy warrants detection of all cases. hence diagnosis of leprosy is of paramount importance to eradicate the cases. history taking gives all important information about the patient. presenting complaint and contacts in family give useful guidelines to clinicians to arrive at the diagnosis. the objective of clinical examination is to elicit ca ...	2006	17474283
detection of mycobacterium leprae dna from soil samples by pcr targeting rlep sequences.	despite near elimination of leprosy as a public health problem, several problems in leprosy still remain. these include early detection, determining efficacy of the treatment and differentiating relapses from re-infection. these aspects have important impact on the patients undergoing treatment and also have a bearing on understanding transmission dynamics in the community. while early diagnosis and management do not need major technological inputs, various reports have suggested that m. leprae ...	2006	17373359
detection of m. leprae by reverse transcription- pcr in biopsy specimens from leprosy cases: a preliminary study.	a reverse transcription (rt)-pcr assay targeting 16s rrna of mycobacterium leprae has been used to detect m.leprae specific nucleic acids. this study has been initiated to gain experience about detection of rna from seven biopsy specimens by rt-pcr assay using species- specific primers described earlier. these biopsy specimens were from clinically confirmed and untreated leprosy cases belonging to bb and bl types. the earlier reported method was established in our laboratory. 171 bp fragment by ...	2006	17373361
review of ocular leprosy.	leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, affects peripheral nerves and skin. eye is also frequently affected, partial or total loss of vision is especially tragic in leprosy. but ocular leprosy is still neglected by the leprosy workers due to lack of knowledge, and is also often overlooked even by the ophthalmologists. here, an update review of ocular leprosy has been attempted regarding its epidemiology, clinical features, pathology, management and prevention under ...	2006	17240815
analysis of mycobacterium leprae genome: in silico searching for drug targets.	the author performed a database search to find the recorded complete genes with complete sequences of mycobacterium leprae and studied their homology to human genomes by blast method. from a total of 35 genes, the potential candidates for further target-based drug development were identified.	2005	16438214
[detection of mycobacterium leprae with the use of the polymerase chain reaction].	the review deals with the problem of the detection of the causative agent of lepra in different biological samples with the use of polymerase chain reaction. special attention is drawn to the characterization of the specificity and sensitivity of different target areas of m. leprae dna.	2005	16438389
regulation of acquired immunity by gamma delta t-cell/dendritic-cell interactions.	in humans, innate immune recognition of mycobacteria, including mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, involves toll-like receptor-2 (tlr-2), expressed on immature dendritic cells (dcs), and the t-cell gammadelta receptor expressed by a subpopulation of t cells that utilize vdelta2 (vdelta2 t cells). to investigate modulatory relationships between these host-cell populations in a microbial context, in vitro experiments were performed with human dcs and vdelta2 t cells stimulated wi ...	2005	16461791
the debate over leprosy elimination versus sustainability of leprosy services.		2005	16465825
primary involvement of penile skin in lepromatous leprosy.	skin lesions in lepromatous leprosy (ll) are usually multiple and widespread. though the lesion may occur anywhere on the skin, male genitalia is rarely involved. in all cases reported so far about penile lesions of ll, there were lesions on the other parts of the body also. in some of the cases scrotum was also involved. we report here a patient who presented himself with a single macular lesion of leprosy on the shaft of his penis diagnosed as a case of lepromatous leprosy on slit-skin smear a ...	2005	16465827
diagnostic value of in situ polymerase chain reaction in leprosy.	this prospective study was carried out to assess the diagnostic value of in situ polymerase chain reaction in leprosy, particularly in enhancing the histopathological diagnosis.	2005	16388154
comparison of two systems of classification of leprosy based on number of skin lesions and number of body areas involved--a clinicopathological concordance study.	who guidelines classify leprosy patients for therapeutic purposes into paucibacillary (pb) and multibacillary (mb) leprosy based on the number of skin lesions. an alternative system of classification has been in practice in nepal from 1985 onwards, based on the number of body areas involved in patients of leprosy. we attempted a clinicopathological approach for comparison of these two systems of classification in leprosy patients for their ability to demarcate patients into groups of pb and mb l ...	2005	16394354
skin to skin transmission of leprosy.		2005	16394427
presence of mycobacterium leprae in epidermal cells of lepromatous skin and its significance.	a 49-year-old man with lepromatous leprosy treated with dapsone monotherapy for 12 years (1967 to 1979) reported in the hospital in 2003, with relapsed disease. a slit skin smear showed a bacteriological index of 4+. biopsies from skin lesions before and after anti-leprosy therapy showed features of lepromatous leprosy. both biopsies showed unusual features of bacillary clumps in epidermal cells demonstrating clearly that dissemination of m. leprae can take place even through unbroken skin. the ...	2005	16394437
the global campaign to eliminate leprosy.		2005	16363908
the rv0805 gene from mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes a 3',5'-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase: biochemical and mutational analysis.	mycobacterium tuberculosis is an important human pathogen and has developed sophisticated mechanisms to evade the host immune system. these could involve the use of cyclic nucleotide-dependent signaling systems, since the m. tuberculosis genome encodes a large number of functional adenylyl cyclases. using bioinformatic approaches, we identify, clone, and biochemically characterize the rv0805 gene product, the first cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase identified in m. tuberculosis and a homologue ...	2005	16313172
inferring the pattern of spontaneous mutation from the pattern of substitution in unitary pseudogenes of mycobacterium leprae and a comparison of mutation patterns among distantly related organisms.	the pattern of spontaneous mutation can be inferred from the pattern of substitution in pseudogenes, which are known to be under very weak or no selective constraint. we modified an existing method (gojobori t, et al., j mol evol 18:360, 1982) to infer the pattern of mutation in bacteria by using 569 pseudogenes from mycobacterium leprae. in gojobori et al.'s method, the pattern is inferred by using comparisons involving a pseudogene, a conspecific functional paralog, and an outgroup functional ...	2005	16315108
expression of nine-banded armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus) interleukin-2 in e. coli.	the nine-banded armadillo (dasypus novemcinctus) is the only immunologically intact animal that regularly develops lepromatous-type leprosy when inoculated with mycobacterium leprae. however, the ability to exploit this model for understanding the pathogenesis of leprosy has been limited by a lack of suitable immunological reagents. recently, efforts began to sequence the entire armadillo genome, and this sequence information will help make possible the development of a wide array of new immunol ...	2005	16338142
identification of specific proteins and peptides in mycobacterium leprae suitable for the selective diagnosis of leprosy.	diagnosis of leprosy is a major obstacle to disease control and has been compromised in the past due to the lack of specific reagents. we have used comparative genome analysis to identify genes that are specific to mycobacterium leprae and tested both recombinant proteins and synthetic peptides from a subset of these for immunological reactivity. four unique recombinant proteins (ml0008, ml0126, ml1057, and ml2567) and a panel of 58 peptides (15 and 9 mer) were tested for ifn-gamma responses in ...	2005	16339528
a study on the impact of fd-mdt on 200 leprosy patients.	a study was carried out from june 1999 to june 2001 to assess the impact of fixed duration multidrug therapy (fd-mdt) in newly detected cases of leprosy in terms of clinical and neurological improvement and changes in the bacillary index of skin smear for afb. 200 new leprosy cases (both pb & mb) were started on fd-mdt. of these 200 cases, 16 were of pure neuritic leprosy. after treatment, out of 184 cases with typical skin lesions of leprosy, all 26 pb cases showed inactivity of skin lesions, a ...	2005	16353520
[some immunological aspects in the reaccional states of hansen disease].	the crucial clinical problem in leprosy is represented by episodes of intense inflammation that produce nerve damage. when mycobacterium leprae has been eliminated by means of antibiotics, the death of the bacteria is not a complete solution to the damage caused in nerves. two of the more frequent immunopathological phenomena in hansen's disease are type i, reactions, known as reversal reactions (rr), and type ii reactions, of which the most frequent and well known are those called erythema nodo ...	2005	16353545
leprosy: contribution of mast cells to epineurial collagenization.	leprosy, a disease caused by mycobacterium leprae, is an important health problem worldwide. it is responsible for an irreversible nerve damage in which fibrosis plays an important role. the existence of an interaction between mast cells and different fibrotic conditions has long been observed. tryptase, the most abundant protein product of human mast cells, has been shown to be mitogenic for fibroblasts and to increase type i collagen production.	2005	16320824
detection of neuropathy due to mycobacterium leprae using noninvasive neurosensory testing of susceptible peripheral nerves.	the prevalence of disability in patients with hansen disease is related to peripheral nerve dysfunction. this dysfunction, which is due to chronic nerve compression, is the result of invasion of the peripheral nerve by mycobacteria leprae. this suggests that early identification of m. leprae would be aided by detection of early stages of peripheral nerve compression. traditional evaluation of peripheral nerve function with monofilaments, electrodiagnostic testing, or by observing motor palsy or ...	2005	16327466
vaccination with a sindbis virus-based dna vaccine expressing antigen 85b induces protective immunity against mycobacterium tuberculosis.	to improve dna vaccination against mycobacterium tuberculosis, we evaluated the effectiveness of a sindbis virus-based dna construct expressing the tuberculosis antigen 85b (sin85b). the protective efficacy of sin85b was initially assessed by aerogenically challenging immunized c57bl/6 mice with virulent mycobacterium tuberculosis. at 1 and 7 months postinfection, the lung bacterial burdens were considerably reduced and the lung pathology was improved in vaccinated mice compared to naive control ...	2005	16239577
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
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
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
erythema nodosum leprosum and hiv infection: a therapeutic experience.	the relationship between leprosy and hiv infection is not yet fully understood, as not much is known about the natural history of the co-infected patients. the matter has become more confusing because of conflicting reports. type-1 lepra reactions and neuritis appear to be severe and more frequent among them. but erythema nodosum leprosum too is not as uncommon among these patients as it was once thought. management of these co-infected patients is often difficult for want of clear-cut guideline ...	2005	16830640
effects of purification and fluorescent staining on viability of mycobacterium leprae.	over the years, researchers have carried out experiments with mycobacterium leprae obtained from either human multibacillary lesions, or infected armadillo tissues, or infected footpad tissues of conventional mice as well as athymic nu/nu mice. in general, these sources of leprosy bacilli are satisfactory for most biochemical and mouse footpad studies, but less than satisfactory for studies in cell biology and immunology where contaminating host tissues pose a serious problem. we examined the ut ...	2005	16830641
leprosy bacillus triggers the wrong cells.		2005	16830644
serologic recognition of low molecular weight mycobacterial protein fractions in lepromatous patients with type ii reactions (enl).		2005	16830648
persister studies in leprosy patients after multi-drug treatment.	cutaneous biopsies were collected from leprosy patients who attended the out-patient department of the institute for treatment at different intervals, i.e., 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 36 months, and more after beginning the multi-drug treatment therapy (m.d.t.). the patients belonged to the two drug regimens; (i) standard multibacillary (mb) m.d.t. after 12, 24, and 36 months; or (ii) standard m.d.t. + minocycline 100 mg once a month (supervised) + ofloxacin 400 mg once a month supervised ...	2005	16830652
comparative evaluation of immunotherapeutic efficacy of bcg and mw vaccines in patients of borderline lepromatous and lepromatous leprosy.	even after 12 months of multi-drug therapy (m.d.t.) multibacillary (mb) therapy patients with high bacterial index (b.i.) continue to harbor dead bacilli and viable persisters, which lead to immunological complications such as recurrent reactions and late relapses, respectively. to achieve faster killing of viable bacilli and clearance of dead bacilli, various immunotherapeutic agents (vaccines and cytokines) are being evaluated as an adjunct to m.d.t. aims and objectives. to evaluate the role o ...	2005	16830653
prevalence of leprosy in agra district (u.p.) india from 2001 to 20031.	leprosy prevalence has reportedly declined all over the world, but six countries, including india, are still endemic for the disease. india alone contributes about 60% to the world's leprosy case load, with the major share from its northern states. the present study done in agra district was based on a randomly-selected sample of over 10% of the population, spread across 300 villages and 16 urban units of the district. a house-to-house survey was conducted from july 2001 to july 2003 in all the ...	2005	16830654
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
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
[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
[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
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
identification of an immunomodulating agent from mycobacterium leprae.	a search for an immunomodulating agent from mycobacteria was carried out using mycobacterium leprae. the antigenicity of each fraction of the bacterial membrane, which contains the most antigenic components of m. leprae, was assessed by using sera from paucibacillary leprosy. n-terminal sequencing of the serum-reactive protein and functional assessment of the membrane fractions using monocyte-derived dendritic cells (dcs) identified major membrane protein ii (mmp-ii) as one of the efficient t-ce ...	2005	15845477
leprosy as a challenge to science on the ability to decode its enigma. a hypothesis on how to respond.	in world leprosy nowadays, a favorable epidemiologic trend has been provided due to the best effort of the worldwide campaign with chemotherapy providing a bright but one-sided look at the future. however, the numbers of new patients are still higher than those under chemotherapy, leaving a concern over the remaining non-human source of infection. to overcome that plausibility, overall understanding of the etiology of the disease should be improved. the author discussed this by the analyses of h ...	2005	15858280
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