01493nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001200067653000900079653001200088653000900100653000900109653002400118653002500142653001700167100001100184245007300195300001000268490000600278520095300284022001401237       1976                            d  c1976 Apr10aAnimals10aDapsone10aFoot10aleprosy10aMale10aMice10aMice, Inbred BALB C10aMycobacterium leprae10aTime Factors1 aLevy L00aBactericidal action of dapsone against Mycobacterium leprae in mice.  a614-70 v93 a<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>  a0066-4804