01702nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001100055653002400066653001100090653002500101653001200126653002200138653000900160653002400169100002200193700001400215700001600229700001600245700001600261245010000277300001100377490000700388520101500395022001401410       1994                            d  c1994 May10aBiopsy10aHeat-Shock Proteins10aHumans10aImmunohistochemistry10aleprosy10aPeripheral nerves10aSkin10aTissue Distribution1 aKhanolkar-Young S1 aYoung D B1 aColston M J1 aStanley J N1 aLockwood DN00aNerve and skin damage in leprosy is associated with increased intralesional heat shock protein.  a208-130 v963 a<p>Leprosy is frequently complicated by the development of reversal reactions in which peripheral nerve and skin lesions become inflamed and irreversible nerve damage may ensue. Increased expression of proteins belonging to the 70-kD heat shock family (hsp 70) occurs in cells of the central nervous system exposed to hyperthermia, physical damage or drug-induced trauma. In the present study we have used immunocytochemical staining to monitor hsp70 levels in peripheral nerves infected by Mycobacterium leprae. Hsp70 was detected in skin and nerve lesions from all leprosy patients, but was particularly prominent in lesions from patients undergoing reversal reactions. Hsp70 immunocytochemistry can thus be used as a marker of neural injury in the peripheral as well as in the central nervous system. The cellular dynamics of nerve damage in leprosy are currently poorly understood, and we postulate that the immunopathology of leprosy may be partly due to an autoimmune response to heat shock proteins.</p>  a0009-9104