Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Five districts with the highest number of leprosy events, including the Camplong Subdistrict, have reported a continuous rise in the number of leprosy cases. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the physical environment of the house, the presence of M. leprae DNA on the floor of the house and the presence of leprosy patients in Camplong Subdistrict, Sampang District. This study used a cross-sectional design. We collected data regarding 40 houses. The presence of M. leprae DNA in the floor samples was analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique; 10% of soil samples showed the presence of M. leprae DNA. Variables associated with the presence of leprosy patients were temperature and the wall of the house. We concluded that that the presence of M. leprae does not depend on the presence of leprosy patients in the house although, theoretically, the soil may be a transmission medium for M. leprae. Therefore, everyone residing in an endemic area has the same risk of M. leprae exposure from the environment. We recommend that programs be conducted in endemic areas to raise the knowledge of the population about what constitutes a healthy house.
Mycobacterium leprae

Our current knowledge of mycobacterial infections in humans has progressively increased over the past few decades. The infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis (TB) disease, which has reasoned for excessive morbidity and mortality worldwide, and has become a foremost issue of health problem globally. Mycobacterium leprae, another member of the family Mycobacteriaceae, is responsible for causing a chronic disease known as leprosy that mainly affects mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, skin, peripheral nerves, and eyes. Ample amount of existing data suggests that pathogenic mycobacteria have skilled in utilizing different mechanisms to escape or offset the host immune responses. They hijack the machinery of immune cells through the modulation of microRNAs (miRs), which regulate gene expression and immune responses of the host. Evidence shows that miRs have now gained considerable attention in the research, owing to their involvement in a broad range of inflammatory processes that are further implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases. However, the knowledge of functions of miRs during mycobacterial infections remains limited. This review summarises recent findings of differential expression of miRs, which are used to good advantage by mycobacteria in offsetting host immune responses generated against them.
Apoptosis ; Chronic Disease ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Macrophages ; MicroRNAs ; Mortality ; Mucous Membrane ; Mycobacteriaceae ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Peripheral Nerves ; Respiratory System ; Skin ; Tuberculosis ; United Nations

BACKGROUND: The causative agents of leprosy are the well-known Mycobacterium leprae and the newly discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis. This agent was found in 2008, and it was found to be the cause of diffuse lepromatous leprosy in two Mexican patients. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to determine if M. leprae and M. lepromatosis were present in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded skin samples from cases from different regions in Mexico. METHODS: A total of 41 skin samples were obtained from 11 states of Mexico. All patients' samples were diagnosed by clinical and histopathological analyses. Total DNA was isolated using a Qiagen-DNeasy blood and tissue kit and molecular identification was achieved by two semi-nested polymerase chain reactions. RESULTS: The 41 patient included 33 samples from men and 8 samples from women; 29 samples were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive to Mycobacterium and 12 samples were PCR-negative. From those 29 samples, 13 were PCR-positive to M. leprae, 8 to M. lepromatosis and 8 were positive to both species. The histopathological diagnosis included; Nodular lepromatous leprosy (NLL); Diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL); and Borderline leprosy (BL). The 29 PCR-positive samples were classified as follow: 14 NLL, 4 DLL, and 11 BL. In the 12 samples negative to Mycobacterium, 7 showed the NLL, 2 DLL and 3 BL. CONCLUSION: These findings add evidence to the M. leprae and M. lepromatous distribution, clinical forms and participation of dual infections in Mexico.
Diagnosis ; DNA ; Female ; Hospital Distribution Systems ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Leprosy, Borderline ; Leprosy, Lepromatous ; Male ; Mexico* ; Mycobacterium leprae* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Skin*

Hansen's disease (leprosy) is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae which affect mainly skin and nerve systems. Currently the incidence of leprosy reached the goals set by WHO in the year 2000. In recent 10 years, only 47 new patients were found in Koreans and their average age was over 70. A 21 year-old young man showed multiple erythematous papules, macules and plaque at face, extremities and trunk. In family history, his grandfather was diagnosed with leprosy at young age and leprosy was recurred when the patient was 7 years old. The patient lived with grandfather from birth to 7 years old. Clinico-pathologically he was diagnosed with a lepromatous leprosy. We performed VNTR both at the skin tissue of grandfather and patient to find out the infection pathway of the patient and found some consistent. Herein, we report a new case of young Korean male transmitted from grandfather.
Communicable Diseases ; Extremities ; Grandparents ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leprosy* ; Leprosy, Lepromatous ; Male ; Minisatellite Repeats ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Parturition ; Skin

Hansen's disease(HD) is a chronic infectious disorder acquired by inoculation of Mycobacterium leprae. With the establishment of complex multidrug therapy, the incidence rate of leprosy patients has continually shown to decline by 90% compared to the incidence rate in the 1990s. However, the prevalence of the disease still remains high in southeast asian countries. Due to the rarity and diverse nature of cutaneous presentation, HD is often misdiagnosed with other dermatoses or infectious conditions. Especially, when a patient presents with unusual presentation with leprosy reaction with no classical feature such as sensory disorders and skin lesion, the diagnosis is further delayed with misguided treatments. Herein we present a 27-year-old Indonesian immigrant who displayed clinical features mimicking that of orbital cellulitis who was later diagnosed with borderline lepromatous leprosy through histologic and PCR confirmation, in light of alerting the probability of leprosy in immigrants with intractable skin presentations.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Diagnosis ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leprosy ; Leprosy, Borderline ; Leprosy, Multibacillary ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Orbit ; Orbital Cellulitis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Sensation Disorders ; Skin ; Skin Diseases

BACKGROUND: It has proven challenging to investigate the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, due to difficulties with culturing of the organism and a lack of genetic heterogeneity between strains. Recently, A panel of variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) markers and an alternative method, structure-neighbor clustering, which assigns isolates with the most similar genotypes to the same groups and, subsequently, subgroups, without inferring how the strains descended from a common ancestor have been developed. METHODS: A total of 29 samples from Korea found cases were studied by 14 VTRN typing and an alternative method, structure-neighbor clustering with 13 and 14 VNTRs by Structure Program(k=10). RESULTS: Only 286 cases of 522 total cases(including database of Bellingham Research Institute) showed p>0.8(in 13 and 14 VNTRs). Almost Korea found cases(18 cases) were included in group 3(13 VNTRs), in group 9(14 VNTRs)(by Structure Program, k=10). CONCLUSIONS: The structure-neighbor clustering by Structure Program with panels of VNTR is a useful approach for investigating the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium leprae.
Cluster Analysis ; Genetic Heterogeneity ; Genotype ; Korea ; Leprosy ; Methods ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Mycobacterium

BACKGROUND: Conventional acid-fast bacilli (AFB) staining cannot differentiate viable from dead cells. Propidium monoazide (PMA) is a photoreactive DNA-binding dye that inhibits PCR amplification by DNA modification. OBJECT: The author evaluated whether PMA real-time PCR is suitable for the viablity of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) in specimens of cultivation in mouse foot pads. METHODS: A total of 55 diluted suspensions from mouse foot pads were quadruplicated and subjected to PMA treatment and/or heat inactivation, and were also tested to compare the ΔCT values (CT value in PMA-treated samples-CT value in non-PMA-treated samples). Real-time PCR was performed using QuantiTect SYBR® Green PCR Kits(Qiagen, USA), and the CT value changes after PMA treatment were compared between PMA treatment and/or heat inactivation groups. RESULTS: The increase in the CT value after PMA treatment was significant in heat inactivated group(4.26) and non-heat inactivated group(1.12)(both P = 0.000). In the ROC curve analysis, the cutoff ΔCT value for maximum sensitivity (100%) and specificity (97.1%) for differentiating dead from live cells was 2.41 CONCLUSIONS: PMA real-time PCR is a useful approach for evaluating viablity of M. leprae.
Animals ; DNA ; Foot ; Hot Temperature ; Mice ; Mycobacterium leprae* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Propidium* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Suspensions

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium leprae, the etiological agent of leprosy, is noncultivable on axenic media, so, the viability of M. leprae for clinical or experimental applications is often unknown. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) assays were recently introduced as the new tools for M. leprae viability determination. OBJECTIVE: For evaluating of correlation of results of quantitative real-time PCR(16S rRNA/RLEP) & AFB stain of slit skin smear & histopathology & estimating the viability of M. leprae, the author studied the comparison of results of them METHODS: Of 46 samples from 27 patients(MB 24 cases, PB 3 cases), M. leprae 16S rRNA was used as RNA targets, and M. leprae repetitive element (RLEP) DNA was used to determine relative bacterial numbers and the viability by the quantitative real-time PCR. The ratio of 16S rRNA and RLEP as the indicator of viability was calculated. Student t test and linear Pearson correlation were done by SPSS. RESULTS: There was a correlation between between 16S rRNA/RLEP ratio and BI (r=0.369, p=0.012), and was statistically significant between 16S rRNA/RLEP ratio and histopathological positivity of AFB (p=0.011). However there was no correlation between 16S rRNA/RLEP ratio and MI. CONCLUSIONS: Although the correlation between between 16S rRNA/RLEP ratio and BI and the statistically significant between 16S rRNA/RLEP ratio and histopathological positivity of AFB, there was no correlation between 16S rRNA/RLEP ratio and MI. It needs the further evaluation the correlation about that.
DNA ; Humans ; Leprosy* ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA ; Skin*

Since Mycobacterium Leprae was founded by Dr. Armauer Hansen in 1873, leprosy was proven to infectious disease by a germ not from hereditaty, from a cause, or from sin. For it has no definite method of treatment, made a conclusion at the 1st international leprosy association meeting at Berlin in 1897, isolation is the only way to prevent the disease. So all country started to built a leprosarium and isolated the leprosy patients. Various methods and drugs were used for leprosy treatment including potassium iodide, arsenic, antimony, copper, sera, vaccines and aniline dyes and then X-ray, radium, electric current till 1925. Chaulmoogra oil was introduced to western world in 1854 by Dr. FJ Mouat and used for the leprosy treatment drug. Dr RM Wilson in Kwangju Leprosy Hospital started to use Chaulmoogra oil since 1909 and reported the results of it at JAMA in 1923. But it was replaced to sulfones in 1940'. Mordern treatment started in 1937 when Parke-Davis co. synthesized promin But promin is expensive and have to injection. Then Dapsone delivered from promin and it could be used per oral. Dr. RM Wilson In Aeyang Hospsoital (former Kwangju leposy hospial) started to use Dapson in 1946 with his son Dr. J Wilson. And it was the first episode to use DDS in Korea. When Dr. Cochraine came and visited all the leprosy centers in Korea in 1955 he noticed that some hospital like Aeyangwon and St. Nazarus used DDS but not other hospital. DDS was adopted as main drug of choice in Carville, Loisiana but noticed dapsone resistant bacilli and then WHO recommended the MDT from 1981.
Antimony ; Arsenic ; Berlin ; Coloring Agents ; Communicable Diseases ; Copper ; Dapsone ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Korea ; Leprosy* ; Mycobacterium leprae ; Potassium Iodide ; Radium ; Sulfones ; Vaccines ; Western World

The nucleotide-oligomerization domain (NOD) is an important molecule involved in host defense against bacterial infection. To study the role of NODs in the host response to Mycobacterium leprae, we measured the mRNA levels of NODs and related genes in infected mouse tissues. The mRNA expression of NOD1, NOD2, caspase-1 and ASC was increased in mouse footpads. Whereas NOD2 expression in macrophages was increased at 2 and 24 h post-infection with M. leprae, there was no expression of NOD1 at these time points. An increase in caspase-1 expression was observed at 2 h and continued at 24 h. However, the expression of ASC was increased only at the early time point. The expression of caspase-1 is regulated by NOD2-dependent pathway in established HEK 293. Our results suggest NOD2, rather than NOD1, may be associated with the host response to M. leprae and that caspase-1 activation is essential for the host response.
Animals ; Bacterial Infections ; Macrophages ; Mice* ; Mycobacterium leprae* ; Mycobacterium* ; RNA, Messenger