as part of a series of investigations at baba baghi leprosarium in lran, 44 long-treated leprosy patients were selected for our study. samples of early morning sputum were obtained from each patient, examined by microscopy for acid-fast bacilli (afb), and cultured for tubercle bacilli. these tests were negative, but the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) for an insertion sequence believed to be sp...

Synthetic oligonucleotide primers based on the DNA sequence data of the Escherichia coli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Mycobacterium intracellulare katG genes encoding the heme-containing enzyme catalase-peroxidase were used to amplify and analyze the Mycobacterium leprae katG region by PCR. A 1.6-kb DNA fragment, which hybridized to an M. tuberculosis katG probe, was obtained from an M. lep...

As part of a series of investigations at Baba Baghi Leprosarium in lran, 44 long-treated leprosy patients were selected for our study. Samples of early morning sputum were obtained from each patient, examined by microscopy for acid-fast bacilli (AFB), and cultured for tubercle bacilli. These tests were negative, but the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for an insertion sequence believed to b...

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, Mycob...

Background Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) is a pathogenic bacterium that causes leprosy. The presence of M. leprae in the environment is supported by microorganisms that act as the new host for M. leprae. Acanthamoeba's potential to be a host of M. leprae in the environment. Acanthamoeba sp. is Free Living Amoeba (FLA) that classified as holozoic, saprophytic, and saprozoic. The existence of ...

Each of more than 30 monoclonal antibodies that had been raised against Mycobacterium leprae and previously classified as reactive with carbohydrate was shown to be directed against lipoarabinomannan, a prominent, highly pervasive, myo-inositol-phosphate-containing, cross-reactive antigen within the leprosy bacillus. Some of the antibodies preferentially bound to the lipopolysaccharide of M. le...

Mycobacterium leprae, the pathogen that causes human leprosy, has a unique affinity for infecting and persisting inside Schwann cells, principal glia of peripheral nervous system. Several studies have focused on this intricate host-pathogen interaction as an attempt to advance current knowledge mechanisms governing nerve destruction disease progression. However, during chronic course leprosy ne...

The peptidoglycan structure of Mycobacterium spp. has been investigated primarily with the readily cultivable Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and has been shown to contain unusual features, including the occurrence of N-glycolylated, in addition to N-acetylated, muramic acid residues and direct cross-linkage between meso-diaminopimelic acid residues. Based on results from...

In vitro susceptibility of Mycobacterium leprae to two bipyridyl analogs was studied by using two biochemical parameters to measure the metabolic activity of the organism. VUF-8514 at 0.16 micrograms/ml, but not VUF-8842, completely inhibited the metabolic activity of M. leprae, and the action was bactericidal. When compared to rifampin (MIC 0.3 micrograms/ml), VUF-8514 was equally bactericidal...

The lambda gt 11 expression vector permitted us to survey protein antigens of Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis expressed in Escherichia coli. Using monoclonal antibodies, recombinant clones were detected producing three major antigens of M. tuberculosis and five major protein antigens of M. leprae. These recombinant antigens produced in E. coli should prove useful for diagnos...