02270nas a2200409   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001500059653001000074653000900084653002200093653001000115653002100125653001300146653002800159653001100187653001300198653001100211653001100222653001200233653000900245653001600254653002500270653002800295653001600323100001900339700001500358700001400373700001600387700002000403700002500423245009500448300000900543490000700552520128700559022001401846       2009                            d  c2009 Jan-Feb10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aAged, 80 and over10aChild10aChild, Preschool10aColombia10aCross-Sectional Studies10aFemale10agenotype10aHumans10aInfant10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMycobacterium leprae10aTandem Repeat Sequences10aYoung Adult1 aTorres-Avila J1 aColorado C1 aGamboa LA1 aAraujo MG S1 aLeón-Franco CI1 aGuerrero-Guerrero MI00a[Genotyping Colombian Mycobacterium leprae for determining disease transmission patterns].  a3-130 v113 a<p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>Assessing VNTR (variable-number tandem repeat) variability of Mycobacterium leprae from Colombian patients with and without prior treatment to identify potential sources of infection and to understand the patterns of disease transmission.</p><p><b>METHODOLOGY: </b>This was a descriptive cross-sectional study where a convenience sample of biopsies was taken from 161 multibacillary leprosy patients; diagnosis and monitoring of the disease had been requested for these patients. DNA was extracted from M. leprae and standardised using the PCR technique for M. leprae VNTR, ge-notypes were established and different clusters grouped by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA).</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>22 different VNTR genotypes were found from 161 samples, of which 100 samples (62.1%) had a single u-VNTR genotype and the remaining genotypes were VNTR 17 (5.6%), VNTR 20 (4.3%), VNTR 18 (4.3%), VNTR 14 (4.3%) and VNTR 13 (3.7%), namely those forming groups or clusters.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>This study showed that clones can be detected with varying degrees of virulence / aggressiveness by cluster analysis, implying the need for more monitoring programme activities which will result in a real decline in microorganism transmission.</p>  a0124-0064