01816nas a2200337   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653003100055653002000086653001900106653001300125653001700138653001100155653001200166653001600178653002500194653002700219653002600246653001400272100001600286700001500302700001500317700001500332700001300347700001100360245013800371300001100509490000700520520093700527022001401464       1987                            d  c1987 Jun10aBacteriological Techniques10aCells, Cultured10aDNA, Bacterial10aEthidium10aFluoresceins10aHumans10aleprosy10aMacrophages10aMycobacterium leprae10aScintillation Counting10aStaining and Labeling10aThymidine1 aHarshan K V1 aPrasad H K1 aChopra N K1 aMishra R S1 aGogiya P1 aNath I00aComparison of radiometric macrophage assay and fluorescein diacetate/ethidium bromide staining for evaluation of M. leprae viability.  a316-210 v553 a<p>Earlier studies from our laboratory reported that a radiometric Mycobacterium leprae resident macrophage assay was a useful in vitro indicator of bacillary viability with good correlation with the established mouse foot pad model. The present study compares our assay with the recently described fluorescein diacetate/ethidium bromide (FDA/EB) method. M. leprae extracted from the dermal lesions of 73 bacilliferous leprosy patients were tested concurrently by both techniques. Good correlation (r = 0.52, p less than 0.001) was found between the radiometric assay evaluating DNA synthesis and the FDA/EB staining reflecting the presence of active esterase enzyme. In addition, the utility of the FDA/EB staining in the monitoring of therapy was established. Twenty-two patients treated for greater than 1 year showed lower numbers of green fluorescing bacilli when compared to 19 untreated or short-term-treated individuals.</p>  a0148-916X