In leprosy, early diagnosis is crucial to prevent transmission and onset of disabilities of the disease. The purpose of this study was to determine usefulness of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in clinically diagnosed cases of leprosy. Thirty-two leprosy cases were included. The real-time PCR was performed using commercial kit targeting Mycobacterium leprae-specific insertion sequence element. The slit skin smear was positive in two (22.2%) borderline tuberculoid (BT) patients, five (83.3%) borderline lepromatous (BL) patients, and seven (50%) lepromatous leprosy (LL). The positivity of quantitative real-time PCR in BT, BL, LL, and pure neuritic leprosy were 77.8%, 83.3%, 100%, and 33.3%, respectively. Using histopathology as the gold standard, sensitivity of quantitative real-time PCR was 93.1%, and specificity was 100%. The DNA load was higher in LL (3,854.29/106 cells), followed by BL (140.37/106 cells), and BT (2.69/106 cells). Because of the high sensitivity and specificity of real-time PCR, our study strongly suggests the use of real-time PCR as a diagnostic tool for leprosy.
BT - The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene C1 -https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37339763
DA - 06/2023 DO - 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0751 J2 - Am J Trop Med Hyg LA - eng N2 -In leprosy, early diagnosis is crucial to prevent transmission and onset of disabilities of the disease. The purpose of this study was to determine usefulness of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in clinically diagnosed cases of leprosy. Thirty-two leprosy cases were included. The real-time PCR was performed using commercial kit targeting Mycobacterium leprae-specific insertion sequence element. The slit skin smear was positive in two (22.2%) borderline tuberculoid (BT) patients, five (83.3%) borderline lepromatous (BL) patients, and seven (50%) lepromatous leprosy (LL). The positivity of quantitative real-time PCR in BT, BL, LL, and pure neuritic leprosy were 77.8%, 83.3%, 100%, and 33.3%, respectively. Using histopathology as the gold standard, sensitivity of quantitative real-time PCR was 93.1%, and specificity was 100%. The DNA load was higher in LL (3,854.29/106 cells), followed by BL (140.37/106 cells), and BT (2.69/106 cells). Because of the high sensitivity and specificity of real-time PCR, our study strongly suggests the use of real-time PCR as a diagnostic tool for leprosy.
PY - 2023 T2 - The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene TI - Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for Detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA in Tissue Specimens from Patients with Leprosy. SN - 1476-1645 ER -