01865nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002000055653002700075653001600102653001200118653001600130653000900146653001400155653001500169653001300184653003000197100001400227700001200241700001500253245010700268300001000375490000800385520118000393022001401573       1990                            d  c1990 Feb10aCells, Cultured10aChromosome Aberrations10aChromosomes10aleprosy10aLymphocytes10aMale10aMitomycin10aMitomycins10aMutagens10aSister Chromatid Exchange1 aD'Souza D1 aDas B C1 aThomas I M00aDifferential sensitivity of peripheral blood lymphocytes of untreated leprosy patients to mitomycin C.  a101-70 v2403 a<p>The effects of a bifunctional alkylating agent mitomycin C (MMC), an effective inducer of chromosome aberrations and sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs), have been studied in untreated leprosy patients. This was done to study the mutagen sensitivity of the leprosy patients. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations induced by MMC (conc. 0.01 microgram/ml) was 2.5% in controls, 3.6% in paucibacillary (PB), and 6.8% in multibacillary (MB) patients. The difference in the frequency of MMC-induced chromosome aberrations between the 3 groups studied was highly significant (p less than 0.01). Cultures grown with MMC showed the frequency of SCEs/cell to be 12.70 +/- 1.19 in controls, 19.97 +/- 3.51 in PB, and 29.66 +/- 5.92 in MB patients. The differences in the frequency of MMC-induced SCEs between the 3 groups were found to be highly significant (p less than 0.01). The enhanced frequencies of spontaneous and MMC-induced chromosome aberrations and SCEs observed in PB and MB patients indicate a clear differential mutagen sensitivity between PB and MB patients who are known to have different immunological status and thereby differ in the severity of the disease.</p>  a0027-5107