02131nas a2200301 4500000000100000008004100001653002300042653001200065653002000077653001600097653001300113653002500126100001400151700001400165700001600179700001300195700001400208700001700222700001200239700001600251700001700267700001300284700001300297245012000310856006900430300000800499520132200507 2024 d10aFree-Living Amoeba10aLeprosy10aAcanthamoeba sp10aEnvironment10aSurvival10aMycobacterium leprae1 aWahyuni R1 a Astari L1 aIswahyudi I1 aPaling S1 aAdriaty D1 aKurniawati S1 aAulia S1 aRahmatari B1 aPrakoeswa CR1 aAgusni I1 a Izumi S00aMycobacterium leprae Survival Inside Acanthamoeba sp. Isolated from Water Source in Leprosy Endemic Area, Indonesia uhttps://jtrolis.ub.ac.id/index.php/jtrolis/article/view/2889/734 a1-83 a

Mycobacterium leprae is an acid-fast bacterium that causes leprosy diseases, which remains a problem worldwide. Even though leprosy prevalence in the world has decreased significantly, many endemic pocket areas continue reporting new cases and harbor M. leprae in the environment, including water and soil. The presence of obligate intracellular bacteria-M. leprae in the environment raises a question on how it survives. Free-living amoeba has been proposed as its reservoir host in the environment. The study was conducted to give evidence that M. leprae can survive inside free-living amoeba isolated from water sources of leprosy endemic areas. M. leprae from leprosy patients was cultured together with Acanthamoeba sp. isolated from the water source of the leprosy endemic area. Viability and duplication of M. leprae inside amoeba then observed at day 14 and 28 using reverse transcriptase PCR and qPCR. The results showed that M. leprae survived inside the amoeba until day 28, but no bacterial replication was observed. The study reveals in vitro evidence of viable M. leprae inside free-living amoeba of leprosy endemic area environment.