M Matsuoka

..The possibility of future collaboration between Korea and Japan to solve remaining problems in the clinical field was discussed and a course of action for collaboration was deliberated...

..The drug resistant profile of the isolated strain was confirmed by the mouse footpad method and the identification of mutations in genes previously shown to be associated with resistance to each drug was made...

..A limited discriminative capacity of the TTC polymorphism in the epidemiological analysis implies the need of searching other useful polymorphic loci for detailed subdivision of clinical isolates...

..leprae rpoT genotypes and prehistoric spread of the leprosy by genotyping based on the genomic polymorphism are introduced...

..We expect that the transmission of leprosy can be fully analyzed by the application of these new methodologies...

..This is a rapid and simple method for the simultaneous susceptibility testing of three front-line drugs for leprosy, and solves the problems of previously reported methods...

..The magnitude of drug resistance in Mycobacterium leprae to dapsone, rifampicin, and ofloxacin was studied in three Southeast Asian countries with a high prevalence of leprosy...

..leprae harboured by the various human races that moved to the American continent, as has been demonstrated in other infectious diseases...

..Type 4, TTC, with three copies of 6 bp, was detected only from Japanese Brazilians. The results indicate that infection occurred in Brazil and the disease developed later in Japan...

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..New methodologies to test susceptibility to anti-leprosy drugs instead of the traditional mouse footpad method are introduced. Awareness of the need to monitor drug resistance to prevent the spread of resistant cases is emphasized...

..Mutations were identified in the genes associated with resistance to these drugs. The risk of the emergence of leprosy with multidrug resistance is emphasized...

..Possible contribution of Japanese researchers to global leprosy control in the future were discussed on the base of circumstances of the project and our assignment in the sueveillance...

..Prevention of further reduction of research activity was stressed...

..The results obtained with the kit at those laboratories were highly concordant with results of sequencing. The method is feasible for the testing by local person in areas with high prevalence of leprosy...

..The Leprosy Research Center provides bacillary materials as experimental resources at researchers' request...

..Thirteen isolates (14.8%) showed representative mutations in more than two genes, suggesting the emergence of multidrug-resistant M. leprae...

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..This is the first paper which links the mutations in DHPS and sulfonamide resistance in M. leprae. This finding is medically and socially relevant, since leprosy is still a big problem in certain regions...

..leprae than vector control BCG. These results indicate that the triple combination of HSP70, MMP-II, and urease depletion may provide a useful tool for inducing better activation of naive T cells...

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..M. leprae is a unique pathogen which remains resistant to DC-mediated T-cell immunity, at least in the early stages of infection...

..leprae. These results suggest that a DNA containing M. leprae-derived hsp65 and immunostimulatory sequences might be a potent vaccine candidate against M. leprae infection...

..BCG-SM inhibited the multiplication of M. leprae in the footpads of C57BL/6J mice more efficiently than BCG-pMV. These results indicate that a BCG strain that secretes MMP-II could be a better vaccine candidate for leprosy...

..Acid fast staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of intracellular M. leprae revealed visible elongation of bacilli cultured under the above ideal conditions...

..However, the viability of M. leprae was almost lost within 2 weeks if cultured at 37 degrees C. These data suggest that temperature is a crucial factor for the survival of M. leprae in host cells...

..Leprosy caused by M. leprae is still unclear on various aspects including transmission, immunology, nerve damage etc. Here we introduce the recent advances in the field of basic leprosy research...

..ATP method may be useful for the determination of drug susceptibility ofM. leprae...

..These examinations include histopathology, serum antibody titers (anti-PGL-I antibody), PCR test and bioactivity of anti-bacterial agents...

..These results suggest that the induction of phenotypic changes in macrophages can lead to the upregulation of host defence activity against M. leprae...

..These results indicate that BCG-70M activated DC, CD4(+) T cells, and CD8(+) T cells, and the combination of HSP70 and MMP-II may be useful for inducing better T cell activation...

..The haplotype estimation, according to the E-M algorithm, suggested that TACGT is closely associated with IBD, especially with CD. It was concluded that SNPs at the 5'-end of IL-18 gene might be closely related to the etiology of IBD...

..These morphologic findings confirmed the nature of maldifferentiated plerocercoid. The serologic data suggested a close relation between Sparganum proliferum and Spirometra erinacei...

..leprae and MAC organisms with murine peritoneal M phi s in terms of the activation of signal transduction pathways for expression of some kinds of immunoregulatory cytokines and immunoprotective enzymes...

..The low density oligonucleotide array described in this paper will open the new perspectives in terms of patient management for leprosy with low cost requirement...

..The M. leprae genome contains mce1A gene, which encodes a putative mammalian cell entry protein. However, to date, there have been no functional analyses of the M. leprae mce1A gene product...

..The peptidoglycan layer was found to remain intact in these cell groups...

..The cell widths measured on electron micrographs were 0.44 microm for M. tuberculosis and 0.38 microm for M. leprae. The peptidoglycan layer of M. leprae was 4-5 nm, while the corresponding layer of M. tuberculosis was 10-15 nm...