An attempt to reduce the loss of pain and touch sensations in leprosy patients.

An attempt was made to improve the perception of pain and touch sensations at the leprosy lesions. The loss of pain and touch sensations in a lesion was graded using Pain/Touch-Sensation-Testing-and-Grading devices. Application of a solution containing 1 mg of histamine per ml of DMSO, at the affected area decreased the grades of the loss of pain sensation in 11 (31.4%) patients and of touch sensation in 8 (22.8%) patients, out of the 35 patients tested, indicating an improvement in the perception at the lesion. This effect, however, did not persist even for 5 minutes. A higher concentration (2 mg/ml) of histamine produced reduction in the sensory loss in a larger percentage (47% for pain and 35.3% for touch) of patients, though the duration of this effect was still not prolonged.