@article{3293,
  keywords = {Antibodies, Bacterial, Bacterial Proteins, DNA Primers, Humans, leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae, polymerase chain reaction, Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid, Skin},
  author = {Kang T-J and Kim S-K and Lee S-B and Chae G-T and Kim J-P},
  title = {Comparison of two different PCR amplification products (the 18-kDa protein gene vs. RLEP repetitive sequence) in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium leprae.},
  abstract = {<p>To determine the best molecular method for diagnosing leprosy, two sets of Mycobacterium leprae-specific primers were compared. Fresh biopsies and slit skin smear samples were obtained from 67 leprosy patients and examined by touchdown (TD) PCR using primers amplifying either a 129-bp fragment of the RLEP repetitive sequence or a 360-bp fragment of the 18-kDa protein gene of M. leprae. Seventeen of 30 (56.7%) biopsy specimens and four of 37 (10.8%) slit skin smear specimens were positive using the primer for the 18-kDa protein gene, whereas 24 of 30 (80%) biopsy and 27 of 37 (73%) slit skin smear samples showed detectable PCR products in the RLEP repetitive sequence. Twenty-one of 31 cases (67.7%) with a bacterial index of zero were PCR positive for the primer RLEP repetitive sequence. These results demonstrate that detection of M. leprae using PCR with primers to a RLEP sequence is more sensitive and specific than PCR with the 18-kDa protein gene primers and also slit smears with acid fast staining. PCR of RLEP repetitive sequences is therefore a useful means of detecting M. leprae DNA even when it is present at very low levels.</p>},
  year = {2003},
  journal = {Clinical and experimental dermatology},
  volume = {28},
  pages = {420-4},
  month = {2003 Jul},
  issn = {0307-6938},
  doi = {10.1046/j.1365-2230.2003.01300.x},
  language = {eng},
}