Detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA for 36kDa protein in urine from leprosy patients: a preliminary report

Abstract

We have searched for Mycobacterium leprae DNA for 36kDa protein in urine using a M. leprae specific PCR technique. A limited number of 16 patients (of which 11 belonged to lepromatous leprosy and five to tuberculoid leprosy) and eight healthy individuals were included for the present study. The number of urine samples positive by PCR were 36.4% (4/11) in lepromatous patients and 40% (2/5) in tuberculoid patients. None of the samples from healthy individuals was positive. To our knowledge, the results indicate, for the first time, the presence of M. leprae DNA in urine from leprosy patients. Another important finding obtained out of the study is that amongst treated patients 66.6% (4/6) were positive whereas amongst untreated only 20% (2/10) were positive. From the present indicative data it appears that treatment improves the PCR results with urine as a sample. Thus, the approach could prove to be useful for monitoring the treatment response of individual patients and needs to be further evaluated with a large number of patients.

Evaluation of 85 A‐C intergenic region PCR primers for detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA in urine samples

“…In PCR targeting pra gene in urine sample, Parkash et al. (2004) 4 revealed better PCR positivity (37.5%, 6/16) when compared with that found in current work using 85A‐C‐PCR. Probably, this difference is related to the primer target in M. leprae genome.…”

Detection of excretory Entamoeba histolytica DNA in the urine, and detection of E. histolytica DNA and lectin antigen in the liver abscess pus for the diagnosis of amoebic liver abscess

“…Detection of DNA in urine by PCR has been employed for the diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii , Neisseria gonorrhoeae , Borrelia burgdorferi , Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Mycobacterium leprae and Chlamydia trachomatis infections [26-30]. Some studies have also shown that the kidney barrier in rodents and humans is permeable to DNA molecules large enough to be analyzed by standard genetic methodologies [31,32].…”

Detection of <i>Mycobacterium leprae</i> in Ocular Tissues by Histopathology and Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

“…Using RT-PCR, Martinez et al [22] showed identification of 79.2% of leprosy patients with no detectable bacilli . In recent years, genetic techniques for the detection of M. leprae in nonocular tissues have become highly specific [25] , PCR has been widely used for epidemiological studies and has been clinically applied for the detection of M. leprae in nasal turbinate biopsies [25] , urine [26] , and blood [27] of treated or untreated leprosy patients. It has been reported that the sensitivity of AFS is very low and requires about 10 4 bacteria per gram of tissue for reliable detection [10] , particularly in patients in the tuberculoid stage of leprosy when AFS bacilli are rare or absent [28] .…”