01663nas a2200217   4500000000100000008004100001260001500042653001700057653001200074653001700086100001700103700001500120700001300135700002000148700001900168700001200187245012000199856007800319520103400397022001401431       2012                            d  c2012 Dec 310aTuberculosis10aleprosy10aCo-infection1 aTrindade MAB1 aMiyamoto D1 aBenard G1 aSakai-Valente N1 aVasconcelos DM1 aNaafs B00aLeprosy and tuberculosis co-infection: Clinical and immunological report of two cases and review of the literature.  uhttp://www.ajtmh.org/content/early/2012/11/29/ajtmh.2012.12-0433.full.pdf3 aA review of the records of patients seen between 2004 and 2011 at the Dermatology Clinic of the São Paulo University Medical School showed that only two leprosy patients had been co-infected with tuberculosis (TB). One patient showed a type 1 leprosy reaction during the first 3 months of treatment of pleural TB and in the other patient, pulmonary TB was diagnosed during the first 3 months of treatment of a type 1 leprosy reaction. Both patients showed normal cellular immune response tests, including those of the interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)/interleukin 12 (IL-12) axis. Although both mycobacterial infections are endemic in developing countries like Brazil, the co-infection has hardly been reported in the last decade. There is no suitable explanation for this observation. The reports on the interaction between the two mycobacteria are highly speculative: some studies suggest that leprosy, especially the anergic form, would predispose to TB, whereas other investigations suggested an antagonism between the two diseases.  a1476-1645