A preliminary report on characterization and identification of non tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) on the basis of biochemical tests and protein / isoenzyme electrophoretic patterns.

Purpose: To assess the usefulness of protein electrophorograms and protein zymodemes in the identification and characterization of non tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM).

Methods: Cell free extracts (CFEs) from 22 mycobacterial isolates belonging to slow growing and other clinically relevant species were included in the study. The strains isolated from the environment were identified on the basis of their standard biochemical tests; pigmentation and growth characters.

Nerve thickening in leprosy patients and risk of paralytic deformities: a field based study in Agra, India.

This paper examines the extent of nerve thickening among leprosy patients detected in the field in Agra district. All the clinically diagnosed leprosy patients were examined in detailed for thickening of local cutaneous nerves and peripheral nerve trunks. In each case all the major nerve trunks in both upper and lower extremities, forehead and neck were examined for thickening.

Drug resistance in leprosy: lessons from past and future perspective.

Some recent studies indicate that the problem of drug resistance in leprosy is very much there but the exact picture is not clear. In the emerging scenario with increasing number of new cases with low bacterial load, the conventional in-vivo and most of current in-vitro methods for determination of drug resistance may not help. It is pointed out that newer molecular approaches may be more useful and that it will be important to undertake studies to develop such tools.

Detection of viable organisms in leprosy patients treated with multidrug therapy.

Cutaneous biopsies were collected from multibacillary leprosy patients who attended the out-patient department of Jalma Institute for treatment at different time intervals, i.e. 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 30 months, 36 months and 42 months after starting multidrug therapy (MDT) when they were still skin smear positive.

Effect of trifluoperazine on in vitro ATP synthesis by Mycobacterium leprae.

The effect of trifluoperazine (TFP), a calmodulin antagonist, was investigated on in vitro ATP levels of human derived Mycobacterium leprae. M. leprae were obtained from biopsies from multi-bacillary forms of leprosy and were incubated in a modified Dubos medium system which supports limited in vitro synthesis of M.

Understanding the phenomenon of persistence in mycobacterial infections.

Persistence of live organisms despite chemotherapy for long periods is a significant problem in both leprosy and tuberculosis. The consequence of this persistence is varying rates of relapses which undermine the success of treatment. The mechanisms of the dormancy are ill-understood, and as explanation a switch over to alternate modes of metabolism such as glyoxylate bypass and other shunts has been suggested.

Viability determination of M.leprae: comparison of normal mouse foot pad and bacillary ATP bioluminescence assay.

Correlation between viability assessment by mouse foot pad and ATP bioluminescence was studied in biopsy specimens from multibacillary leprosy cases. Biopsies were processed for inoculation into mouse foot pad and estimation of bacillary ATP levels by bioluminescent assay by earlier established procedures. ATP content as pg/million bacilli was estimated and correlation was assessed with growth in the mouse foot pad.

Detection of M. leprae by gene amplification; combined ethidium-bromide staining and probe hybridization.

Biopsy and skin-scraping specimens from 130 leprosy cases across the disease spectrum (56 TT/BT/I, 73 BB/BL/LL, and 1 neuritic case) and 50 healthy contacts were studied to assess the application of gene amplification. The nucleic acids from these clinical specimens were extracted by an integrated freeze-thawing--optimized lysozyme-/proteinase-k treatment-purification and fractionation procedure. The nucleic acids from cultured organisms were isolated by the stepwise procedure earlier standardized at this laboratory.

Immunotherapy of leprosy.

Immunotherapy aims to modify the defective cell-mediated immune response in a section of leprosy cases. This presentation reviews the various immunomodulators developed/ investigated for this purpose. Among the various mycobacterial agents, BCG, BCG + M.

Determination of mycobacterial phylogeny on the basis of immunological relatedness of superoxide dismutases.

Sixteen strains of cultivable mycobacteria were grown in Sauton's medium, and Mycobacterium leprae was purified from armadillo liver. Cell extracts were prepared from log-phase growths of each of the cultivable mycobacterial strains. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme was purified from all cultivable mycobacterial strains included in the study, and antibodies against purified SOD enzyme were raised in rabbits.

Development of a SOD ELISA to determine the immunological relatedness among mycobacteria.

This study reports on the standardization of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for the measurement of immunological distances (ImDs) of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) molecule among the cultivable mycobacteria, namely, Mycobacterium vaccae, M. phlei, M. smegmatis, M.

Isolation and characterization of cultivable mycobacteria from leprosy skin.

Attempts were made to isolate cultivable mycobacteria from 129 biopsies/slit-skin scrapings from the skin of leprosy patients (73 multibacillary-BB/BL/LL and 56 paucibacillary-TT/BT/I) as well as 50 healthy controls. Among the 19 isolates obtained, 17 were from specimens from leprosy cases whereas two were from healthy controls. 14 of the 17 isolates were from multibacillary cases and three were from paucibacillary patients.

Studies on microbial aerobic flora of skin in leprosy patients.

This study reports the isolation and identification of aerobic organisms from biopsies/slit-skin smears/scrapings from 129 leprosy patients and 50 healthy controls. These include 56 paucibacillary (PB) and 73 multibacillary (MB) cases. Thirty-six isolates from the specimens from 21 patients and 15 healthy controls were grown.

Treatment of bacilliferous BL/LL cases with combined chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Thirty-six, untreated borderline lepromatous/lepromatous (BL/LL) leprosy patients with an initial bacterial index (BI) of 4+ to 6+ were serially allocated to three treatment groups. Group I patients received a slightly modified WHO regimen (rifampin once a month, clofazimine and dapsone daily) and BCG intradermally (i.d.

Enhancement in the histological diagnosis of indeterminate leprosy by demonstration of mycobacterial antigens.

In a clinico-pathological study of Indeterminate leprosy, fifty-six cases were chosen based on specified clinical criteria. Their clinical features were noted, the smears for acid fast bacilli (AFB) were prepared from lesions, lepromin inoculation and biopsies were performed from the lesional edges. They were subsequently treated with a modified extended WHO regimen for paucibacillary leprosy.