02490nas a2200421   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653000900080653001000089653001100099653001100110653002500121653002300146653001200169653000900181653001600190653002300206653003900229653003500268653002300303653001800326653001600344100001900360700001300379700001500392700001500407700001800422700001400440245009400454856004800548300001000596490001600606050002200622520141000644022001402054       2012                            d  c2012 Dec10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aChild10aFemale10aHumans10aImmunohistochemistry10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aNerve Regeneration10aPeripheral Nervous System Diseases10aReceptors, Nerve Growth Factor10aSensory Thresholds10aThermosensing10aYoung Adult1 aIllarramendi X1 aRangel E1 aMiranda AM1 aCastro ACR1 aMagalhães GO1 aAntunes S00aCutaneous lesions sensory impairment recovery and nerve regeneration in leprosy patients.  uhttp://www.scielo.br/pdf/mioc/v107s1/12.pdf  a68-730 v107 Suppl 1  aILLARRAMENDI 20123 a<p>It is important to understand the mechanisms that enable peripheral neurons to regenerate after nerve injury in order to identify methods of improving this regeneration. Therefore, we studied nerve regeneration and sensory impairment recovery in the cutaneous lesions of leprosy patients (LPs) before and after treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT). The skin lesion sensory test results were compared to the histopathological and immunohistochemical protein gene product (PGP) 9.5 and the p75 nerve growth factor receptors (NGFr) findings. The cutaneous neural occupation ratio (CNOR) was evaluated for both neural markers. Thermal and pain sensations were the most frequently affected functions at the first visit and the most frequently recovered functions after MDT. The presence of a high cutaneous nerve damage index did not prevent the recovery of any type of sensory function. The CNOR was calculated for each biopsy, according to the presence of PGP and NGFr-immunostained fibres and it was not significantly different before or after the MDT. We observed a variable influence of MDT in the recovery from sensory impairment in the cutaneous lesions of LPs. Nociception and cold thermosensation were the most recovered sensations. The recovery of sensation in the skin lesions appeared to be associated with subsiding inflammation rather than with the regenerative activity of nerve fibres.</p>  a1678-8060