01869nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001100055653001100066653001200077653002500089653005200114653002400166653003200190653000900222100001300231700001600244700001400260700001500274700001200289700001400301700001500315245011800330300001000448490000700458520108800465022001401553       2006                            d  c2006 Mar10aBiopsy10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aReverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction10aRNA, Ribosomal, 16S10aSensitivity and Specificity10aSkin1 aKatoch K1 aChauhan D S1 aSingh H B1 aSharma V D1 aSingh M1 aKashyap M1 aKatoch V M00aDetection of M. leprae by reverse transcription- PCR in biopsy specimens from leprosy cases: a preliminary study.  a280-70 v383 a<p>A reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay targeting 16S rRNA of Mycobacterium leprae has been used to detect M.leprae specific nucleic acids. This study has been initiated to gain experience about detection of RNA from seven biopsy specimens by RT-PCR assay using species- specific primers described earlier. These biopsy specimens were from clinically confirmed and untreated leprosy cases belonging to BB and BL types. The earlier reported method was established in our laboratory. 171 bp fragment by RT-PCR was amplified from 4/7 cases. The positives results by RT-PCR were from the biopsies from fresh or short term treated cases whereas negative results were from specimens from long term treated cases showing clinical features of relapse. DNA targeting PCR (36 KDa) showed positivity in both groups. These results suggest that RT-PCR positivity possibly reflect the presence of viable organisms. Thus as earlier predicted RT-PCR assay may be useful for viability determinations for assessing the response to chemotherapy as well as presence of persisters in relapse cases.</p>  a0019-5138