| immunoglobulin class specific antibodies to m. leprae in leprosy patients, including the indeterminate group and healthy contacts as a step in the development of methods for sero-diagnosis of leprosy. | iga, igm and igg anti-m. leprae antibody activity was quantitated by solid phase radioimmunoassay in groups of untreated leprosy patients throughout the spectrum, in lepromatous leprosy patients treated for more than 10 years, in an indeterminate leprosy group, and in a non-leprosy control group. iga, igm and igg anti-m. leprae antibody activity increased from the group of healthy individuals exposed to m. leprae but without clinical signs of leprosy to tuberculoid (bt and bt/tt) and further to ... | 1982 | 7042137 |
| [maintenance of armadillos in captivity and results of the inoculation of mycobacterium leprae]. | the authors report their experiences in raising armadillos and the results obtained in inoculating them with m. leprae. they begin by reporting on the origin of the animals, how they were captured, and their efforts until they found the right kind of housing for the armadillos. they also tell of their attempts to develop the correct feeding procedures. the result is the feed used now in their laboratory: chicken feed mixed with bread, eggs, meat and milk. along with this, they report on the way ... | 1980 | 7042562 |
| isolation and identification of mycolic acids in mycobacterium leprae and mycobacterium lepraemurium. | mycolic acids with a characteristic structure were isolated by high performance-liquid-chromatography (hplc) and mass-spectrometry from a foot pad of a nude mouse inoculated with mycobacterium leprae. mycolic acids with the same structure were also obtained from mycobacteria collected from the liver of an armadillo with experimental leprosy. mycolic acids were isolated from mycobacterium lepraemurium grown both in vivo and in vitro and these mycolic acids had different structures from those of m ... | 1981 | 7042604 |
| the problem of dapsone-resistant leprosy. | | 1981 | 7042605 |
| dapsone-resistant leprosy-the thelep approach. | | 1981 | 7042606 |
| primary dapsone-resistant leprosy in cebu, philippines. | a survey of the prevalence of primary dapsone-resistant leprosy in cebu, philippines, has yielded an estimate of 3.6 per 100. fifty-three of 55 patients proved to have m. leprae fully susceptible to dapsone. the organisms of two patients multiplied in mice administered the minimal effective dose of dapsone; and those of one of these patients also multiplied in mice administered dapsone in a 10-fold larger dose. | 1981 | 7042607 |
| in vitro stimulation of human lymphocytes with mycobacterial antigens. | | 1981 | 7042608 |
| demonstration of mycobacterial antigens in leprosy tissues. | biopsies from 69 patients with leprosy were stained to demonstrate mycobacterial antigens using immunoperoxidase methods. the same biopsies were cut and stained using fite-faraco, triff and hematoxylin-eosin for classifying the patients and to demonstrate mycobacteria. since m. leprae and bcg show extensive antigenic cross reactions, anti-bcg antibodies were used as primary antisera to demonstrate cross-reacting antigens of m. leprae. cross-reacting mycobacterial antigens were, thus, found in al ... | 1982 | 7042609 |
| bacterial growth kinetics of "m. lufu" in the presence and absence of various drugs alone and in combination. a model for the development of combined chemotherapy against m. leprae? | bacterial growth kinetic studies were performed in a series of potential inhibitors of m. leprae using "m. lufu" as a model strain. reasons why "m. lufu" is considered to be a better model than m. tuberculosis are presented. the inhibitory power of the single drugs has been quantified, the activity constants are calculated, and the synergistic, additive, or antagonistic behavior of the combinations is evaluated. it is demonstrated that a combination consisting of dapsone (dds), prothionamide (pt ... | 1982 | 7042611 |
| ultrastructural features of the multiplication of human and murine leprosy bacilli in macrophages of nude mice. | ultrastructural features of the growth of m. leprae and m. lepraemurium in nude mouse macrophages were studied by ultrathin sectioning and freeze-etching. in nude mouse macrophages, m. leprae produced spherical droplets (foamy structures) similar to those in human lepra cells. on the other hand, m. lepraemurium produced typical crystalline material in nude mouse macrophages, which is quite the same as that observed in the c3h strain mouse, spherical droplets in the form of foamy structures seem ... | 1982 | 7042613 |
| ultrastructural characteristics of mycobacterium bovis bcg and mycobacterium leprae. | freeze-fracture studies (ff) and ultrathin sectioning (uts) have been performed on mycobacterium bovis (bcg) and mycobacterium leprae (ml). ff of bcg revealed the presence of two populations of cells: one group having four fracture faces and the other showing only two; the latter showed a preferential cleavage along a plane across the cell wall (cw) having a smooth appearance devoid of particles, on both protoplasmic (pf) and exoplasmic (ef) fracture faces. on the other hand, ff of the plasma me ... | 1982 | 7042614 |
| adenosine triphosphate content of mycobacterium leprae: effect of purification procedures. | various procedures to decontaminate and purify m leprae free of host tissue material resulted in total retention of their intracellular atp and also infectiousness. the atp content of one million m. leprae cells, isolated from either livers, spleens, or lymph nodes of infected armadillos, or a nude mouse foot pad or a human biopsy specimen, was in the range of 1.17 to 1.40 picograms. suspensions could be decontaminated with 4% naoh and all non-bacterial atp could be eliminated by the combined ac ... | 1982 | 7042615 |
| statistical analysis of results obtained by two methods for testing drug activity against mycobacterium leprae. | | 1982 | 7042616 |
| preliminary studies of the metabolic activity of purified suspensions of mycobacterium leprae. | mycobacterium leprae isolated from armadillo tissue incorporated radioactivity from d-(14c)glucose and (14c)protein hydrolysate. in the presence of glucose, the rate of incorporation of (14c)protein hydrolysate was increased. uptake of glucose was inhibited by 2-deoxy-d-glucose and sodium azide; that of the amino acids was inhibited by puromycin and chloramphenicol and, weakly, by cycloheximide. | 1982 | 7042905 |
| immunological implications of necrotic, cellular and vascular changes in leprous neuritis: light and electron microscopy. | | 1982 | 7043135 |
| rapid, radiolabeled macrophage culture method for detection of dapsone-resistant mycobacterium leprae. | mycobacterium leprae cells extracted from the skin biopsies of 14 bacilliferous lepromatous patients were maintained in human-murine macrophage cultures for 3 weeks in the presence of [3h]thymidine and dds (4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone). all cultures except one containing freshly extracted viable bacilli showed significant incorporation of [3h]thymidine as compared to control cultures containing heat-killed bacilli of the corresponding strain. six susceptible strains of m. leprae obtained from u ... | 1982 | 7044299 |
| "pro-eu-karyote" graft acceptance: a mechanism for intracellular parasitism - a new hypothesis for pathogenesis of leprosy. | | 1982 | 7045602 |
| the origin, morphology, and function of epithelioid cells. | epithelioid cells are cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system found in certain granulomas mainly associated with intense immunological activity. these cells show little phagocytic activity. in certain experimental granulomas such as those produced in guinea pigs sensitive to zirconium, and at sites of intense inflammatory reaction in man, they may contain varying amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum ("secretory" epithelioid cells). in other situations such as tuberculoid leprosy and in some ... | 1982 | 7047374 |
| humoral immunity in leprosy: immunoglobulin g and m antibody responses to mycobacterium leprae in relation to various disease patterns. | a solid-phase radioimmunoassay, applying whole mycobacterium leprae as antigen and radiolabeled protein a from staphylococcus aureus as antibody-detecting reagent, was used for the determination of specific immunoglobulin g (igg) and igm antibody responses in leprosy patients. high igg anti-m. leprae antibody levels were found in lepromatous leprosy patients, whereas the antibody response in tuberculoid leprosy patients varied from negative, i.e., comparable with responses measured in normal ind ... | 1982 | 7047400 |
| the clinical diagnosis of dapsone resistant leprosy. | for the early recognition of dapsone resistance, it is essential to regularly examine patients at risk for suspicious new lesions, backed by regular clinical treatment records including smear results. the earlier the recognition and starting on alternative treatment, the better is the response. however, it is not advisable to change treatment without attempting at least clinical confirmation, and endorsing the chart so that the problem is not missed on subsequent occasions. | 1982 | 7047897 |
| histologic profile in apparently normal skin of leprosy patients. | | 1982 | 7047898 |
| effect of desoxy fructo serotonin (dfs) on the multiplication of m. leprae in mouse foot-pad. | | 1982 | 7047899 |
| a comparison of the skin scrape and skin biopsy methods in mouse foot-pad experiments with m. leprae. | | 1982 | 7047900 |
| [t and b lymphoid subpopulations in patients with leprosy]. | | 1981 | 7047979 |
| effects of propionibacterium acnes treatment on the course of mycobacterium leprae infection in mice. | studies were carried out to determine the effects of treatment with killed suspensions of propionibacterium acnes (formerly designated corynebacterium parvum) on the course of mycobacterium leprae infection in mice. systemic (intravenous or intraperitoneal) treatment with p. acnes failed to significantly alter the growth of m. leprae in the mouse footpad. in contrast, injections of p. acnes directly into the infected footpad markedly inhibited the growth of the leprosy bacilli regardless of whet ... | 1982 | 7049949 |
| n-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, beta-glucuronidase and acid phosphatase in mycobacterium leprae. | n-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, beta-glucuronidase and acid phosphatase activities were detected in cell-free extracts of mycobacterium leprae (from armadillo liver). extracts of bacteria which had been treated with 7-diazonaphthalene-1,3-disulphonic acid to inactivate surface enzymes retained 30-45% of the activity of the glycosidases and 15% of the activity of the acid phosphatase. when intact bacteria were treated with 1 m-naoh, the corresponding activity in the extracts was 4--9% for the glyc ... | 1982 | 7050296 |
| hansen's disease in the united states. | this article offers a general overview of hansen's disease (leprosy) and examines in some detail the spatial characteristics and demographic profiles of known sufferers. over the years the pejorative labels attached to the disease and the societal and psychological attitudes which produce and accompany them have stigmatized leprosy sufferers. unfortunately this stigma has often pre-empted rational understanding and treatment. contrary to popular belief, leprosy, caused by the bacteriological age ... | 1982 | 7051335 |
| reduction of potassium tellurite and atp content in mycobacterium leprae. | the purpose of this investigation was to examine those properties of mycobacterium leprae which might be useful in estimating the heterogeneity of the bacterial populations harvested from the tissues of experimentally infected armadillos. the following technical procedures were applied: fluorescent microscopy on smears stained by an auramine o-ethidium bromide dual procedure, fine structure observation of ultrathin sections, reduction of potassium tellurite as observed under the electron microsc ... | 1982 | 7051925 |
| metabolism of carbon sources by mycobacterium leprae: a preliminary report. | glucose was established in mycobacterium leprae by glycolysis and the hexose monophosphate pathway (30 %)-pentose phosphate pathway. glycerol was also catabolised to co2 at a similar rate to glucose. key in cell-free extracts as enzymes for m. leprae. | 1982 | 7051926 |
| fatty acid and polar lipid analysis as tools in the identification of mycobacterium leprae and some related slow-growing mycobacterial species. | some species of slow-growing mycobacteria, including mycobacterium leprae (1 strain), m. lepraemurium (2 strains), m. paratuberculosis (12 strains) and a group of 12 m. avium-like strains (isolates from wild animals) were examined by gas chromatography (gc) for cellular fatty acids and by thin-layer chromatography (tlc) for polar lipids. all the gc patterns, including that of m. leprae, contained high levels of tuberculostearic-, stearic-, octadecenoic- and palmitic acid. tetradecanoic-, pentade ... | 1982 | 7051927 |
| the mycolic acids of mycobacterium leprae harvested from experimentally infected nine-banded armadillos. | mycolic acid methyl esters were prepared from defatted cells of armadillo-derived mycobacterium leprae and analysed by thin-layer and high-performance liquid chromatography, proton magnetic resonance spectrometry and mass spectroscopy. the first type of mycolic acid characterized was an "alpha-mycolate" having two cis-cyclopropane rings, a 78-carbon main component and an overall size-range of 72 to 83 carbons. ketomycolates, with an 83-carbon main component, were the only other type of mycolate ... | 1982 | 7051928 |
| [comparative study of the lipids of mycobacterium leprae and other strains of mycobacteria]. | | 1982 | 7051929 |
| the who leprosy programme. | | 1982 | 7051930 |
| mycobacterium leprae and other mycobacteria difficult to culture. | | 1982 | 7051931 |
| mycobacterial lipids in infected tissue samples. | mycobacteria synthesize characteristic lipids which can readily be distinguished from those synthesized by the host cells which they infect during pathogenesis. this fact can be exploited to provide information about mycobacteria growing in infected tissue samples: (a) qualitative analysis of lipid extracts from lepromatous leprosy skin biopsies reveals the presence of several mycobacterial lipids including an m. leprae-specific glycolipid, phthiocerol dimycocerosate and mycolic acids; (b) quant ... | 1982 | 7051932 |
| ultrastructural alterations of mycobacterium leprae in skin biopsies of untreated and treated lepromatous patients. | 1. -- mycobacterium leprae cells under a process of progressive disaggregation are present in the skin of both treated and untreated patients. 2. -- the ultrastructural alterations observed during the degenerative process seem to be qualitatively similar in treated and untreated patients. 3. -- the proportion of altered m. leprae cells increases during the treatment, mainly with rifampicin and rifampicin + clofazimine + diaminodiphenyl sulfone. 4. -- the cell wall of m. leprae is the last bacter ... | 1982 | 7051933 |
| adsorption of mycobacteriophages on mycobacterium leprae: taxonomic significance. | the following bacteriophages were shown to adsorb on mycobacterium leprae: bk1, clark, sedge, baits, watson and d29. bacteriophages that did not adsorb on the leprosy bacilli were bg1, legendre, marshall, panetti, leo and wiseman. the taxonomic significance of these findings and some prospective consequences of these investigations are discussed. | 1982 | 7051934 |
| anomalous isoenzymes of lactate dehydrogenase in sera of patients with leprosy. | in an earlier study (saoji et al, 1980) we looked for anomalous (additional) isoenzymes in homogenates of 17 active and 25 of regressing lepromatous leprosy, three of erythema nodosum leprosum, eight of bt, 19 of tt and one of indeterminate leprosy. anomalous bands were found in 17 cases. they correlated with large numbers of viable organisms and were thought to originate from mycobacterium leprae. this communication describes the serum ldh isoenzymes of the same 78 cases. six of 17 cases with a ... | 1982 | 7098443 |
| bacteriological studies of armadillo livers infected with mycobacterium leprae. | | 1982 | 7181543 |
| leprosy in a chimpanzee. postmortem lesions. | a young (5-7 year old) male chimpanzee died 33 months after the first clinical manifestations of a naturally acquired disease that was similar to disseminated leprosy in man. at autopsy there were diffuse or multifocal histiocytic infiltrations of the skin, nasal mucosa, pharynx, lung interstitium, liver, spleen, sclera, testicles, adrenal glands, and peripheral lymph nodes. major nerves of the forearms had extensive fibrosis. there were large numbers of acid-fast bacilli (afb), many occurring a ... | 1980 | 7193655 |
| borderline tuberculoid leprosy following bcg vaccination. a case report. | borderline tuberculoid leprosy was diagnosed clinically and histologically in a four year-old boy about 6 months after intradermal vaccination with bcg. his mother reported that a lesion began to appear above the vaccination site on the arm 2 weeks after the vaccination, and a second lesion appeared on the chin 2 months later. responses in the lymphocyte transformation test to sonicated mycobacterium leprae, bcg, and to ppd were consistent with a tuberculoid leprosy infection. precipitation of b ... | 1981 | 7195879 |
| detection of mycobacterial lipids in skin biopsies from leprosy patients. | thin-layer chromatography was used to compare lipid extracts from lepromatous skin biopsies with those from normal skin and from mycobacterium leprae purified from armadillo spleen. several lipids were found in infected skin which were absent from normal skin but corresponded to lipids present in the purified m. leprae. these included mycolic acids, a 6-deoxyhexose-containing lipid (glycolipid i) and a wax ester (possibly related to the mycobacterium tuberculosis wax, phthiocerol dimycocerosate) ... | 1981 | 7196889 |
| fatal reaction to dapsone during treatment of leprosy. | a burmese boy being treated with dapsone (diaminodiphenylsulfone [dds]), 100 mg daily, for lepromatous leprosy had a fatal reaction to the drug 3 weeks after therapy was started. the clinical symptoms and progression of illness conform well to a "dds syndrome" first described in the early 1950s. although the syndrome clinically resembles infectious mononucleosis, neither epstein-barr virus nor cytomegalovirus was implicated as an etiologic agent in this case. the syndrome has been recognized dur ... | 1981 | 7235421 |
| [pathomorphologic changes in the internal organs of intact and mycobacterium leprae-infected 9-banded armadillos]. | the internal organs of nine-banded armadillos were examined histologically before and after inoculation of the animals with m. leprae. 3--4 months after the inoculation two animals developed tuberculoid structures in the lungs, liver and skin. a conclusion is made that experimental leprosy infection in nine-banded armadillos may run its course not only in the lepromatous but also in the tuberculoid form of the disease. | 1981 | 7295954 |
| [effect of antileprotic preparations on glycolytic processes in rats infected with human mycobacterium leprae]. | | 1981 | 7314889 |
| serology of leprosy. i. indirect hemagglutination test with stabilized sensitized red cells. | an indirect hemagglutination (iha) test has been described for the qualitative and quantitative detection of antibodies specific to mycobacterium leprae. aldehyde stabilized red cells were sensitized with a sonicate antigen prepared from m. leprae purified from armadillo liver. these cells were titrated against sera from patients with different types of leprosy, their healthy household contacts and patients with tuberculosis. specific antibodies were demonstrated in leprous sera by iha test afte ... | 1981 | 7334779 |
| lucio's phenomenon. | a 38-year-old woman had diffuse, nonnodular, lepromatous leprosy and lucio's phenomenon. most cases of lucio's phenomenon have been reported to have a leukocytoclastic vasculitis as the underlying pathologic abnormality. in this patient, however, the histologic picture of an early lesion of lucio's phenomenon showed a milk, mononuclear cell infiltration, endothelial swelling, vascular thrombosis, and ischemic necrosis. lepra bacilli were abundant around nerves and blood vessels, and many were no ... | 1980 | 7356353 |
| cd26 expression in leprosy and other granulomatous diseases correlates with the production of interferon-gamma. | leprosy represents a spectrum of clinical manifestations that reflect the immune response to antigens of mycobacterium leprae. the tuberculoid form of leprosy, which is characterized by an organized development of granulomas, has recently been correlated with a th1-like immune response. the lepromatous form of leprosy, with a characteristic lack of cellular immunity, has been correlated with a th2-like immune response to mycobacterial antigens. dipeptidylpeptidase iv (cd26) is an ectopeptidase t ... | 1995 | 7474942 |
| characterization of the gene encoding the immunodominant 35 kda protein of mycobacterium leprae. | analysis of the interaction between the host immune system and the intracellular parasite mycobacterium leprae has identified a 35 kda protein as a dominant antigen. the native 35 kda protein was purified from the membrane fraction of m. leprae and termed mmpi (major membrane protein i). as the purified protein was not amenable to n-terminal sequencing, partial proteolysis was used to establish the sequences of 21 peptides. a fragment of the 35 kda protein-encoding gene was amplified by the poly ... | 1995 | 7476185 |
| the mycobacterium leprae genome: systematic sequence analysis identifies key catabolic enzymes, atp-dependent transport systems and a novel pola locus associated with genomic variability. | in the framework of the mycobacterial genome sequencing project, a continuous 37,049 bp sequence from the mycobacterium leprae chromosome has been determined. computer analysis revealed 10 complete open reading frames, and nine of their products show similarity to known proteins. seven of these were identified as the enzyme isocitrate lyase, two p-type atpase cation transporters, two amp-binding proteins, the ribosomal protein s1, and dna polymerase i. interestingly, the pola gene, encoding dna ... | 1995 | 7476188 |
| unique gene organization of thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase in mycobacterium leprae. | the thioredoxin system comprising thioredoxin (trx), thioredoxin reductase (tr) and nadph operates via redox-active disulphides and provides electrons for a wide variety of different metabolic processes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. thioredoxin is also a general protein disulphide reductase involved in redox regulation. in bacteria, the trx and tr proteins previously identified were encoded by separate genes (trxa and trxb). in this study, we report a novel genomic organization of tr and ... | 1995 | 7476189 |
| [assessment of the mitsuda reaction in lepromatous patients inactive before and after immunotherapy]. | in this study the immunopotentiator levamisole as well as a mixture of bcg/mycobacterium leprae were investigated in inactive lepromatous leprosy patients by using the mitsuda reaction as a parameter. twenty lepromatous patients ten years ago classified as histologically negative for mitsuda's test were divided into three groups: five patients that were only retested with mitsuda antigen; eight patients that received oral levamisol and seven patients that received a mixture of alive bcg plus aut ... | 1995 | 7480918 |
| cross-recognition by t cells of an epitope shared by two unrelated mycobacterial antigens. | the molecular mimicry represented by cross-recognition of determinants shared by unrelated antigens by antibodies or t cells is of broad immunological interest. in this study, we analyzed the cross-recognition by cd4+ t cells of a peptide epitope shared by two mycobacterial proteins of diverse sequence, represented by the 19-kda antigen of mycobacterium tuberculosis and the 28-kda antigen of mycobacterium leprae. this epitope was immunodominant with respect to the 19-kda antigen, but cryptic in ... | 1995 | 7489760 |
| genomic organization of the mycobacterial sigma gene cluster. | we have previously described sigma a and sigma b and their structural genes, mysa and mysb, respectively, in mycobacterium smegmatis. we have now sequenced the corresponding regions in the m. tuberculosis and m. leprae chromosomes, and have found the two homologous genes. the chromosomal linkage and the deduced amino acid (aa) sequences of the two genes show very high similarity in the three species of mycobacteria. we also report the finding of two other open reading frames (orf) in these clust ... | 1995 | 7489918 |
| the 65 kda protein of mycobacterium habana and its putative role in immunity against experimental tuberculosis. | mycobacteria including mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae possess multiple antigens some of which inhibit other anti-mycobacterial immune responses. whole cell vaccines are not free from these suppressive molecules and may adversely affect the immunogenic response(s). purified protein components having only immunogenic properties should prove to be superior vaccine(s). mycobacterium habana, a candidate vaccine for mycobacterial infections has been dissected for analysing its ant ... | 1995 | 7493776 |
| characterization of the mycobacterium tuberculosis erp gene encoding a potential cell surface protein with repetitive structures. | using the phoa gene fusion methodology adapted to mycobacteria, several mycobacterium tuberculosis dna fragments encoding exported proteins were recently identified. in this paper, the molecular cloning, genomic positioning, nucleotide sequence determination and transcriptional start site mapping of a new m. tuberculosis gene, identified by this methodology, are reported. this gene was called erp (for exported repetitive protein) and has a sequence similar to that of the mycobacterium leprae 28 ... | 1995 | 7496523 |
| immunological analysis of the components of the antigen complex a60 of mycobacterium bovis bcg. | the antigen complex of a60 of mycobacterium bovis bcg was analyzed by different immunological techniques to assess its relevance to tuberculosis and the involvement of its components in the immune reactions elicited in humans by tuberculous infection. a60 is composed of about 30 components, of which 8 were identified by available monoclonal antibodies (lipoarabinomannan, a glycolipid, and proteins of 65, 40, 38, 35, 19, and 14 kda). the majority (87.5%) of anti-mycobacterial antibodies in sera f ... | 1994 | 7496934 |
| naturally processed peptides from rheumatoid arthritis associated and non-associated hla-dr alleles. | naturally processed peptides from immunoaffinity-purified hla-drb1*0401, -drb1*0404 (rheumatoid arthritis (ra)-associated), and -drb1*0402 (non-ra-associated) molecules were analyzed by capillary liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. the molecular weights observed for more than 60 eluted peptides from each hla-dr protein ranged from 788 to 3535 atomic mass units, corresponding to peptides 7 to 32 amino acids in length. sequencing of more than 60 of the abundant peptides revealed nested se ... | 1995 | 7499850 |
| role of reactive oxygen species in renal damage in experimental leprosy. | renal involvement is known to occur in leprosy. in the present study the possible role of reactive oxygen species (ros) in causation of renal damage in mice infected with mycobacterium leprae has been investigated. at least six animals from each group (control and infected) were killed at 0 day, 3, 6 and 9 months postinfection. the results showed a significant increase in the chemiluminescence (cl) response of peritoneal macrophages which was maximum between 3 and 6 months. no significant increa ... | 1995 | 7500814 |
| relapse with multibacillary leprosy caused by rifampicin sensitive organisms following paucibacillary multidrug therapy. | many leprosy patients treated with multidrug therapy (mdt) had previously received dapsone (dds) monotherapy for many years. we report here 2 such patients treated with modified paucibacillary mdt composed of rifampicin and dds who subsequently relapsed with multibacillary leprosy 5 and 6 years after release from treatment. isolates of mycobacterium leprae from both patients were resistant to dds but sensitive to rifampicin, suggesting that the relapses were caused by rifampicin sensitive 'persi ... | 1995 | 7500815 |
| long-lasting t-cell reactivity to mycobacterium leprae antigens in human volunteers vaccinated with killed m. leprae. | a trial with a candidate anti-leprosy vaccine based on killed mycobacterium leprae was started in norway in 1983 to evaluate its toxicity and efficacy to induce cell-mediated immunity (cmi) in bcg-vaccinated healthy volunteers. the vaccinated subjects were found to be free of unacceptable side-effects and their t cells showed elevated proliferative response to m. leprae up to 1 year postvaccination. when tested in 1991, 8 years after vaccination, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the same ... | 1993 | 7504379 |
| identification of human t cell epitopes in the mycobacterium leprae heat shock protein 70-kd antigen. | in a number of pathogens, heat shock proteins (hsp) stimulate humoral and cellular immune responses despite significant sequence identity with host hsp. the 70-kd hsp of mycobacterium leprae, which shares 47% identity with human hsp70 at the protein level, elicited a t cell response in most myco. bovis (bacille calmette-guérin (bcg)) vaccinees as well as leprosy and tuberculosis patients and their contacts. in order to locate t cell epitopes, dna fragments encoding portions of the 70-kd hsp were ... | 1993 | 7504601 |
| sera of leprosy patients with type 2 reactions recognize selective sequences in mycobacterium leprae recombinant lsr protein. | type 2 reactions (erythema nodosum leprosum [enl]) are episodic, reactional states causing significant morbidity in lepromatous leprosy patients. with a view to defining the immunological differences between the stable and reactional forms of lepromatous leprosy, we determined antibody responses to lsr, a recombinant protein of mycobacterium leprae previously described by us (s. laal, y.d. sharma, h.k. prasad, a. murtaza, s. singh, s. tangri, r. s. mishra, and i. nath, proc. natl. acad. sci. usa ... | 1994 | 7505263 |
| identification of an antigenic domain on mycobacterium leprae protein antigen 85b, which is specifically recognized by antibodies from patients with leprosy. | sixty-three overlapping 15-oligomer peptides covering the 30-kda protein antigen 85b of mycobacterium leprae were tested by elisa to identify epitopes recognized by human antibodies. serum samples from patients with lepromatous leprosy (ll) reacted mainly with peptides comprising amino acid regions (aa) 206-230, 251-280, and 291-325. sera of patients with active tuberculosis who responded to the native 30-kda antigen did not recognize these peptides. the antibody-binding specificity to the defin ... | 1994 | 7506279 |
| contrasting evolutionary rates in the duplicate chaperonin genes of mycobacterium tuberculosis and m. leprae. | a phylogenetic analysis of chaperonin (heat shock protein 60) sequences from prokaryotes and eukaryotes indicated that a single gene duplication event in the common ancestor of mycobacterium tuberculosis, m. leprae, and streptomyces albus gave rise to the duplicate chaperonin genes found in these species (designated hsp65 and groel in the mycobacterial species). comparison of rates of synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide substitution in different gene regions suggested that the 5' end of the ... | 1993 | 7506344 |
| evidence of selection for protein introns in the recas of pathogenic mycobacteria. | protein introns are recently discovered genetic elements whose intervening sequences are removed from a precursor protein by an unusual protein splicing reaction. this involves the excision of a central spacer molecule, the protein intron, and the religation of the amino- and carboxy-terminal fragments of the precursor. the reca gene of mycobacterium tuberculosis contains one such element and we now show that the other major mycobacterial pathogen, mycobacterium leprae, also possesses a protein ... | 1994 | 7508863 |
| genotoxic effects of mycobacterium leprae infection in humans. | | 1994 | 7510032 |
| identification of myelin basic proteins in circulating immune complexes associated with lepromatous leprosy. | circulating immune complexes (cic) were first measured in lepromatous patients (ll) by the 125i-c1q binding assay and the polyethylene glycol (peg) precipitation test. high levels were found by both methods (95 and 90% of positives, respectively). ll-cic were investigated for the presence of neural antigens. cic were precipitated in 3.5% peg, filtered through protein a-sepharose affinity chromatography, eluted with glycine-hcl, ph 2.8, and washed with pbs; fractions after cic dissociation were s ... | 1994 | 7511083 |
| nucleotide sequence and secondary structures of precursor 16s rrna of slow-growing mycobacteria. | slow-growing mycobacteria have a single ribosomal rna (rrn) operon, with the genes for 16s, 23s and 5s rrna being present in that order. the transcription start site of the rrn operon of mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified in escherichia coli. pcr methodology was used to amplify parts of the rrn operon, namely the leader region and the spacer-1 region separating the 16s rrna and 23s rrna genes of mycobacterium avium, mycobacterium paratuberculosis, mycobacterium intracellulare, 'mycobacter ... | 1994 | 7512868 |
| recent trends in rifamycin research. | rifamycin is a clinically useful macrolide antibiotic produced by the gram positive bacterium amycolatopsis mediterranei. this antibiotic is primarily used against mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium leprae, causative agents of tuberculosis and leprosy, respectively. in these bacteria, rifamycin treatment specifically inhibits the initiation of rna synthesis by binding to beta-subunit of rna polymerase. apart from its activity against the bacteria, rifamycin has also been reported to in ... | 1994 | 7513153 |
| cloning and b-cell-epitope mapping of mpt64 from mycobacterium tuberculosis h37rv. | the gene of the immunogenic protein mpt64 found in culture filtrates of mycobacterium tuberculosis h37rv was cloned and sequenced. a comparison showed mpt64 and the gene encoding mpb64 from mycobacterium bovis bcg tokyo to be identical except for one silent mutation. the regions encoding the promoter and the signal peptide were also well conserved for the two sequences. southern blot experiments on genomic mycobacterial dna showed the presence of mpt64 in the m. tuberculosis substrains h37rv, h3 ... | 1994 | 7513311 |
| borderline tuberculoid hansen's disease in aids. | we performed an immunohistochemical analysis of a skin lesion from a patient with aids who had borderline tuberculoid hansen's disease. we also evaluated other laboratory features and performed peripheral blood flow cytometric analysis. the in situ immunologic response to mycobacterium leprae was minimally affected by concomitant infection and immunosuppression by hiv. the skin demonstrated the typical characteristics of borderline tuberculoid lesions. these results indicate that although a pati ... | 1994 | 7513328 |
| [the identification of the antigenic determinants of mycobacterium leprae passed through laboratory animals by using monoclonal antibodies]. | the antigenic preparations of m. leprae isolated from the biopsy leproma material of leprosy patients, m. leprae obtained by passage through laboratory animals (armadillos, rats) and m. lepraemurium have been identified by indirect solid-phase enzyme immunoassay. experiments made with the use of the set of monoclonal antibodies (mcab) to different m. leprae antigenic determinants, supplied by the who bank of monoclonal antibodies (immlep), have demonstrated the presence of common antigenic deter ... | 1994 | 7514328 |
| individuals from different populations identify multiple and diverse t-cell determinants on mycobacterial hsp70. | the 70 kda heat-shock protein (hsp) of mycobacterium leprae stimulates both cellular and antibody responses in leprosy patients and subclinically infected individuals despite partial homology with host hsp70. furthermore, mycobacterial hsp70 can act as a carrier protein in unprimed mice, suggesting the presence of widely shared t-cell determinants on this protein. in order to elucidate the frequency and genetic restriction of these t-cell epitopes, we have undertaken a systematic analysis of the ... | 1994 | 7516574 |
| detection and characterization of a lambda gt11 recombinant clone of m. leprae that expresses an antigenic determinant of a 64-kda protein. | a genomic library of mycobacterium leprae in the expression vector lambda gt11 was screened with rabbit polyclonal hyperimmune antiserum elicited with a sonicated extract of m. leprae. numerous reactive clones were isolated by this immunoscreening, indicating a broad antibody response of the rabbit. none of the recombinant clones was reactive with monoclonal antibodies to the previously well-characterized m. leprae recombinant clones. one of the clones isolated, clone a, encoded a large, 132-143 ... | 1994 | 7519225 |
| antibody response to recombinant 65-kda, 70-kda and 18-kda mycobacterial antigens in leprosy patients and healthy contacts in a leprosy-endemic population. | antibody responses to recombinant mycobacterium leprae 65-kda (rml65) and 18-kda (rml18), m. bovis bcg 65-kda (rmb65) and m. tuberculosis 70-kda (rmt70) antigens were measured by indirect elisa in sera from leprosy patients and healthy contacts in a leprosy-endemic area in southern india. antibody responses to m. leprae-specific epitopes on phenolic glycolipid-i (pgl-i) and a 35-kda protein antigens also were measured simultaneously by pgl-i elisa and the serum antibody competition test (sact), ... | 1994 | 7519226 |
| t-cell-epitope mapping of the major secreted mycobacterial antigen ag85a in tuberculosis and leprosy. | lymphoproliferation and gamma interferon (ifn-gamma) secretion in response to 28 overlapping 20-mer synthetic peptides covering the complete sequence of the mature (295-amino-acid) 85a component of the major secreted, fibronectin-binding antigen 85 complex from mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium bovis bcg (mtag85a) was examined by using peripheral blood mononuclear cell (pbmc) cultures from healthy tuberculin- and lepromin-positive volunteers and from patients with tuberculosis and lep ... | 1994 | 7520418 |
| nucleotide sequences of the spacer-1, spacer-2 and trailer regions of the rrn operons and secondary structures of precursor 23s rrnas and precursor 5s rrnas of slow-growing mycobacteria. | the single ribosomal rna (rrn) operons of slow-growing mycobacteria comprise the genes for 16s, 23s and 5s rrna, in that order. pcr methodology was used to amplify parts of the rrn operons, namely the spacer-1 region separating the 16s rrna and 23s rrna genes and the spacer-2 region separating the 23s rrna and 5s rrna genes of mycobacterium avium, mycobacterium intracellulare, 'mycobacterium lufu' and mycobacterium simiae. the amplified dna was sequenced. the spacer-2 region, the 5s rrna gene, t ... | 1994 | 7521248 |
| reversal of t cell unresponsiveness by augmentation of antigen presenting cell function. | we have previously described epitopes of the 18 kda protein of mycobacterium leprae which stimulate t and b cell responses in different strains of mice. a series of overlapping 20-mer peptides that span the 18 kda protein were used as immunogens to examine t and b cell recognition of different epitopes. strain-specific variation in the epitopes which induce the strongest responses was affected by genes linked to the h-2 complex and the t cell responses revealed by re-challenge with antigen were ... | 1994 | 7521669 |
| identification of a mycobacterium leprae-specific t cell epitope on the 70 kda heat shock protein. | a major antigen of the leprosy bacillus, mycobacterium leprae, is the 70 kda heat shock protein (hsp70), which has significant sequence homology with hsp70 from other mycobacterial species as well as hsp70 from eukaryotes. a unique region of 70 amino acids at the c-terminus of the m. leprae hsp70 has been previously identified. this study investigated whether mice immunized with the c-terminal fragment of m. leprae hsp70 recognize t cell epitopes in this species-specific portion of the molecule. ... | 1994 | 7522215 |
| mycobacterium leprae isolates from different sources have identical sequences of the spacer region between the 16s and 23s ribosomal rna genes. | to test for genotypic variations between different isolates of mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, the 282 bp spacer region between the 16s and 23s rrna genes was amplified using pcr, and submitted to single-strand conformation polymorphism (sscp) analysis. the procedure was optimized using four modified spacer fragments, containing mutations at one, three, four and six positions, respectively. seventy-five m. leprae isolates from different sources, including isolates from lepr ... | 1994 | 7522845 |
| definition of a human suppressor t-cell epitope. | the quality of the response produced by regulatory or helper t (th) cells presently receives much attention because of its possible implications for vaccine development and immunomodulation. apart from cytokines and so-called costimulatory signals, antigens and the presenting major histocompatibility complex (mhc) molecules may play a role in determining the type of t-cell response generated toward antigens. to examine the role of antigen and/or hla in control of t-cell subset activation, we hav ... | 1994 | 7524076 |
| t-cell determinants and antibody binding sites on the major mycobacterial secretory protein mpb59 of mycobacterium bovis. | among the first proteins encountered by the host immune system upon infection or vaccination with mycobacteria are those secreted by the bacillus during growth. the antigen 85 complex of mycobacterium bovis bacillus calmette-gúerin (bcg) is composed of three closely related members. the mature 85b protein of m. bovis (mpb59) has a high degree of amino acid identity with the m. bovis 85a protein (76%) and the mycobacterium tuberculosis 85b (99%) and 85a (76%) proteins. we have examined the region ... | 1994 | 7525483 |
| mapping of multiple hla class ii-restricted t-cell epitopes of the mycobacterial 70-kilodalton heat shock protein. | by combining a dna subclone and synthetic-peptide approach, we mapped epitopes of the immunogenic mycobacterial 70-kda heat shock protein (hsp70) recognized by human cd4+ t-cell clones and lines. in addition, we identified the respective hla-dr molecules used in antigen presentation. the donor groups used were healthy persons immunized with killed mycobacterium leprae and tuberculoid leprosy patients. the results show that the n-terminal part of the hsp70 molecule contains three different t-cell ... | 1994 | 7525484 |
| an hla-drw53-restricted t-cell epitope from a novel mycobacterium leprae protein antigen important to the human memory t-cell repertoire against m. leprae. | cellular immunity mediated by t cells plays a major role in protection against intracellular infections, including leprosy, a chronic disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. in this work, we describe cd4+ t-cell clones, isolated from healthy humans immunized with m. leprae, which recognize a novel m. leprae protein antigen previously isolated from a lambda gt11 dna expression library. on the basis of the deduced primary structure of the carboxyl-terminal part of the antigen, we have used a synth ... | 1994 | 7525488 |
| critical residues of the mycobacterium leprae lsr recombinant protein discriminate clinical activity in erythema nodosum leprosum reactions. | we reported earlier (s. singh, n. p. shanker narayan, p. j. jenner, g. ramu, m. j. colston, h. k. prasad, and i. nath, infect. immun. 62:86-90, 1994) that polyclonal antibodies directed against selective sequences in the mycobacterium leprae recombinant protein designated lsr were present in lepromatous leprosy patients undergoing erythema nodosum leprosum (enl) reactions (type 2 reactions). in this study using peptides with single-residue deletions from positions 6 to 24, we define three distin ... | 1994 | 7525491 |
| t and b cell responses to mycobacterial 65-kda heat-shock protein in sheep infected with maedi visna virus. | sheep infected with maedi visna virus were tested for immune reactivity to recombinant hsp65 and tuberculin ppd from mycobacteria. the results showed that both naturally and experimentally infected animals had elevated igm but not igg or iga antibodies to hsp65 from mycobacterium leprae or m. bovis. in experimentally infected animals, the elevated igm antibodies appeared in blood from about 3 to 4 weeks postinfection. increased t cell proliferative responses to hsp65 and ppd were also found in b ... | 1995 | 7532120 |
| nodular lepromatous leprosy: report of a case diagnosed by fna. | lepromatous leprosy can present with skin nodules which can be misdiagnosed as soft tissue tumors or infected cysts. fna can be diagnostic if unstained, refractile, intracellular mycobacteria are recognized on romanowsky stained smears. fite stain for mycobacterium leprae confirms the diagnosis. awareness of the differential diagnosis of skin nodules yielding foamy histiocytes on fna, briefly discussed, should help avoid error. | 1994 | 7534683 |
| detection of mycobacterium leprae by three-primer pcr. | recently, polymerase chain reaction has been introduced for the species-specific assessment of mycobacterium leprae (1). to avoid southern blotting techniques using radioactively labelled oligonucleotide probes, the aim of this study was to establish a three primer-based single-step pcr technique. using primers designed for this purpose we amplified a part of the gene encoding for the 16s ribosomal rna of slowly growing mycobacteria. due to the species-specific antisense primer a second, smaller ... | 1994 | 7536184 |
| sustained t-cell reactivity to mycobacterium tuberculosis specific antigens in 'split-anergic' leprosy. | split anergy represented by delayed-type hypersensitivity skin reaction to tuberculin, but not to leprosin, is known to occur in a distinct proportion of leprosy patients. the mechanism was originally attributed to mycobacterium leprae-specific suppression of t cells toward common mycobacterial antigens. this study ascertained an alternative explanation, attributing the phenomenon to selective responsiveness to m. tuberculosis-specific epitopes. indeed, the results of blood t-cell proliferative ... | 1995 | 7537350 |
| recognition of mycobacterium leprae recombinant 18,000 mw epitopes by igg subclasses in leprosy. | igg subclasses are known to be differentially regulated by cytokines (elaborated by activated t cells), which act as growth factors and immunoglobulin switch factors on b cells. in leprosy, we have previously shown that igg subclass antibodies to a purified recombinant antigen of mycobacterium leprae (18,000 mw) are restricted to igg1 and igg3 across the disease spectrum. the only significant difference observed was that lepromatous patients with low to undetectable t-cell responses showed a str ... | 1995 | 7538491 |
| [biological properties of m. leprae passaged in laboratory animals]. | | 1995 | 7539910 |
| cd1-restricted t cell recognition of microbial lipoglycan antigens. | it has long been the paradigm that t cells recognize peptide antigens presented by major histocompatibility complex (mhc) molecules. however, nonpeptide antigens can be presented to t cells by human cd1b molecules, which are not encoded by the mhc. a major class of microbial antigens associated with pathogenicity are lipoglycans. it is shown here that human cd1b presents the defined mycobacterial lipoglycan lipoarabinomannan (lam) to alpha beta t cell receptor-bearing lymphocytes. presentation o ... | 1995 | 7542404 |
| detection of antibodies against phenolic glycolipid-1 (pgl-1), 35-kda and 30-40-kda components of mycobacterium leprae in the cerebrospinal fluid of of leprosy patients. | the involvement of the central nervous system (cns) in lepromatous leprosy (ll) patients was investigated; 33 patients were examined clinically in detail and upper motor neuron involvement was observed in eight and lower motor neuron in three of these patients. anti-mycobacterium leprae antibodies could be detected in the csf by pgl-1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) and monoclonal antibody (mab) based competitive assays against defined epitopes on the 35-kda protein and 30-40-kda polys ... | 1995 | 7543155 |
| a putative fad-binding domain in a distinct group of oxidases including a protein involved in plant development. | using methods for database screening with individual protein sequences and alignment blocks, a conserved domain is delineated in a group of proteins including several fad-dependent oxidases. two motifs within this domain resemble phosphate-binding loops and may be directly involved in fad binding. these motifs can be readily distinguished from previously described nucleotide-binding sites using a method for database screening with position-dependent weight matrices derived from alignment blocks. ... | 1995 | 7549889 |
| activity of mycobacterial promoters during intracellular and extracellular growth. | pus933, a bifunctional mycobacterium-escherichia coli translational fusion vector containing an amino-terminally truncated e. coli lacz reporter gene, was constructed. derivatives of pus933, containing the promoter, rbs and start codon of the mycobacterium bovis bcg hsp60 gene, the mycobacterium leprae 28 kda gene and the m. leprae 18 kda gene were constructed and introduced into e. coli, mycobacterium smegmatis and m. bovis bcg. beta-galactosidase activity was measured for mycobacteria grown in ... | 1995 | 7551043 |
| a 46 kda integral membrane protein from mycobacterium leprae resembles a number of bacterial and mammalian membrane transport proteins. | in this paper we describe the nucleotide sequence of a 3.4 kbp region of the mycobacterium leprae genome. this region contains an open reading frame of 1290 bp with a coding capacity for a protein of 46,179 da, designated the 38l protein. using antibodies against part of the 38l protein, we were able to demonstrate that the 38l protein is present in the membrane protein fraction of m. leprae. the 38l protein showed significant matches with a number of integral membrane proteins involved in the t ... | 1995 | 7551058 |
| t cell clones from a non-leprosy exposed subject recognize the mycobacterium leprae 18-kd protein. | although mycobacterium leprae shares many protein antigens with other mycobacterial species, there is a degree of specificity in the t cell response to the organism. this is evident in the failure of cross-protection between mycobacterial species and the specific unresponsiveness to m. leprae in lepromatous leprosy patients. the antigenic basis of this specificity is unresolved, but the m. leprae 18-kd protein is one candidate because of its restricted distribution and the isolation of m. leprae ... | 1995 | 7554400 |
| distribution and persistence of mycobacterium leprae nasal carriage among a population in which leprosy is endemic in indonesia. | in order to understand better the relationship among mycobacterium leprae, its transmission and the human host or the chain of infection which may lead to the development of leprosy, we performed a population survey in which nasal carriage of m. leprae was determined by a specific polymerase chain reaction (pcr), 2 years after an earlier survey in the same population. 1923 persons were registered, 1171 were clinically examined for signs of leprosy, and 418 were tested by pcr. the detection rate ... | 1995 | 7570870 |
| immunoaffinity chromatographic isolation of a high molecular weight seroreactive protein from mycobacterium leprae cell sonicate. | the purpose of this study was to isolate mycobacterium leprae antigen(s) by immunoaffinity chromatography using immunoglobulins from leprosy patients and from rabbit anti-m. leprae hyperimmune serum coupled to cnbr-sepharose 4b. a high molecular weight (m(r)) m. leprae protein (mlp) with a subunit m(r) of 22,000 was isolated. mlp was recognized by monoclonal antibody mmpii1g4 which is known to react with mmpii, a 22 kda protein of m. leprae. the n-terminal sequence of the 22 kda subunit (met-gln ... | 1995 | 7581267 |