02080nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001900055653002200074653003200096653001100128653001200139653002500151653003000176653000900206100001200215700001400227700001400241700001600255700001400271700002100285700001500306700001400321700001900335700001900354245010600373856007800479300001100557490000700568520114100575022001401716       1991                            d  c1991 May10aDNA, Bacterial10aDiagnostic Errors10aEvaluation Studies as Topic10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10apolymerase chain reaction10aSkin1 aWit M Y1 aFaber W R1 aKrieg S R1 aDouglas J T1 aLucas S B1 aMontreewasuwat N1 aPattyn S R1 aHussain R1 aPonnighaus J M1 aHartskeerl R A00aApplication of a polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Mycobacterium leprae in skin tissues.  uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC269906/pdf/jcm00041-0085.pdf  a906-100 v293 a<p>The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on the selective amplification of a 530-bp fragment of the gene encoding the proline-rich antigen of Mycobacterium leprae was applied on sections of fixed or frozen biopsy samples from leprosy patients. A simple procedure for the extraction of DNA from M. leprae in clinical specimens that provided suitable template DNA for amplification was developed. When PCR was applied on frozen sections, positive amplification in samples from all untreated acid-fast bacillus (AFB)-positive patients and in samples from 56% of the untreated AFB-negative patients could be detected, while biopsy samples from patients with skin diseases other than leprosy were all PCR negative. With neutral Formalin-fixed biopsy samples, positive amplification in 92% of the samples from untreated AFB-positive patients and in 61% of the samples from untreated AFB-negative patients could be detected by PCR. Biopsy samples exposed to mercuric chloride or nonbuffered formaldehyde containing fixatives were not suitable for application of PCR. This PCR holds promise as a tool for studies on M. leprae infection.</p>  a0095-1137