Background: Leprosy remains a prominent health problem in Papua especially in Jayapura City. Numerous cases of relapse and default are also challenges in leprosy elimination in Jayapura. Studies in Relapse cases and history of defaults revealed some resistance related to multi-drug treatment (MDT). The purpose of this study was to detect the presence of mutation in rpoB M. leprae gene in patient relapse, default and patients who are less sensitive to MDT therapy in Jayapura City.
Method: Samples were obtained from patients diagnosed with leprosy with criteria of relapse, default and symptomatic patients after receiving MDT therapy. A total of 34 samples were taken in the form of skin incision (skin silt) of the earlobe. DNA was extracted using Qiagen kit. rpoB gene from extracted DNA was amplified through PCR method followed by nucleotide sequences. Analysis of mutation was elaborated using BLAST according to GenBank database.
Result: 34 samples were examined, and 9 were positive for Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN)staining, while the 25 were negative. In the PCR results, the samples that successfully amplified were 31 samples, and 3 samples were not amplified. The results of BLAST indicated that no mutations in the rpoB gene found in which able to initiate resistance to rifampicin.
Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is the rpoB Mycobacterium leprae gene from Jayapura did not contain any mutations that could trigger resistance to rifampicin. Thus rifampicin is still sensitive for leprosy treatment in Jayapura City.