02198nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001653001200042653003600054653002000090653002200110653002300132653001600155653002100171100001600192700001600208700001400224245012400238856004700362300000800409490000600417520151900423022001401942       2018                            d10aleprosy10aPolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)10aEarly diagnosis10aLeprosy diagnosis10aPoint of care test10aSkin biopsy10aSlit skin smears1 aTatipally S1 aSrikantam A1 aKasetty S00aPolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) as a Potential Point of Care Laboratory Test for Leprosy Diagnosis-A Systematic Review.  uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/3/4/107/pdf  a1070 v33 a<p>Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by and mainly affects skin, peripheral nerves, and eyes. Suitable tools for providing bacteriological evidence of leprosy are needed for early case detection and appropriate therapeutic management. Ideally these tools are applicable at all health care levels for the effective control of leprosy. This paper presents a systematic review analysis in order to investigate the performance of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) vis-à-vis slit skin smears (SSS) in various clinical settings and its potential usefulness as a routine lab test for leprosy diagnosis. Records of published journal articles were identified through PubMed database search. Twenty-seven articles were included for the analysis. The evidence from this review analysis suggests that PCR on skin biopsy is the ideal diagnostic test. Nevertheless, PCR on SSS samples also seems to be useful with its practical value for application, even at primary care levels. The review findings also indicated the necessity for improving the sensitivity of PCR and further research on specificity in ruling out other clinical conditions that may mimic leprosy. The -specific repetitive element (RLEP) was the most frequently-used marker although its variable performance across the clinical sites and samples are a matter of concern. Undertaking further research studies with large sample numbers and uniform protocols studied simultaneously across multiple clinical sites is recommended to address these issues.</p>
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