@article{17720,
  keywords = {Animals, Dapsone, Foot, leprosy, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mycobacterium leprae, Time Factors},
  author = {Levy L},
  title = {Bactericidal action of dapsone against Mycobacterium leprae in mice.},
  abstract = {<p>Dapsone (4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone), incorporated into the mouse chow in a concentration of 0.1 g/100 g of diet, was administered for 1 week to mice in which Mycobacterium leprae had multiplied to the level of 10(6) organisms/footpad. M. leprae were harvested from these and also from control mice, diluted serially, and inoculated into additional mice. The organisms recovered from untreated mice multiplied in passage with a mean doubling time of 12.2 days, and 35% or more of the inoculated organisms were viable, i.e., capable of infecting mice. Growth curves of M. leprae recovered from dapsone-treated animals lagged behind those of organisms from control animals by an average of 78 days, equivalent to 98.8% killing. Foot-by-foot harvests showed that only 0.2% of the M. leprae recovered from treated mice were viable, suggesting that treatment of mice with dapsone had been accompanied by killing of 99.4% of the viable M. leprae.</p>},
  year = {1976},
  journal = {Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy},
  volume = {9},
  pages = {614-7},
  month = {1976 Apr},
  issn = {0066-4804},
  doi = {10.1128/aac.9.4.614},
  language = {eng},
}