@article{5514,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Antibodies, Bacterial, Biopsy, Child, Cohort Studies, Cytokines, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Humans, leprosy, Male, Minocycline, Mycobacterium leprae, Ofloxacin, Prognosis, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Rifampin, RNA, Messenger, RNA, Viral, Th1 Cells},
  author = {Stefani M and Martelli C and Gillis T and Krahenbuhl JL and Brazilian Leprosy Study Group },
  title = {In situ type 1 cytokine gene expression and mechanisms associated with early leprosy progression.},
  abstract = {<p>We explored the prognostic value of in situ cytokine patterns in 39 patients with single-skin-lesion paucibacillary leprosy before single-dose therapy, with 3 years of follow-up. Interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-12, IL-10, IL-4, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha mRNA was quantified in skin biopsy samples at diagnosis, and Mycobacterium leprae DNA was detected in 51.4% of cases. Type 1 immunity predominance with measurable IFN-gamma and undetectable IL-4, which is indicative of effective cell-mediated immunity, is compatible with both the reversal reactions (33.3%) and the resolution of lesions (64.1%) observed. A positive correlation between IL-12 and IFN-gamma indicated type 1 polarization via IL-12. The TNF-alpha/MIP-1alpha correlation implied the TNF-alpha induction of chemokines, which is important for granuloma formation. Positive correlations between key regulatory cytokines-IL-10 and IFN-gamma, IL-10 and IL-12, and IL-10 and TNF-alpha-suggests that there may be some level of an intralesional pro- or anti-inflammatory mechanism essential in avoiding immunopathology.</p>},
  year = {2003},
  journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
  volume = {188},
  pages = {1024-31},
  month = {2003 Oct 01},
  issn = {0022-1899},
  doi = {10.1086/378410},
  language = {eng},
}