LAMP Assay Targeted RLEP for Detection of Mycobacterium Leprae in leprosy patients.

OBJECTIVE: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and remains a significant health problem in several parts of the world. Early and accurate diagnosis of this disease is therefore important. Previously published LAMP protocols for detection of mycobacterial species used conventional specific primers and targeted the 16S rRNA, gyrB, and insertion sequence genes.

METHODS: In this study, we conducted a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for leprosy and compared it with quantitative PCR (q-PCR) and conventional PCR assays to determine which of these techniques was least time consuming, more sensitive, and more accurate. We based our assays on the conserved sequence RLEP as a suitable molecular target.

RESULTS: The LAMP assay provided more rapid and accurate results for 110 clinical skin tissue samples of suspected leprosy confirmed 91 leprosy cases, amplifying the target pathogen in less than 60 min at 65 °C, shared the more sensitive than conventional PCR, and simpler and faster than the q-PCR assay.

CONCLUSIONS: Hence, this LAMP assay has greater potential for developing quick, accessible visual detection methods for detecting M. leprae, which will better enable early diagnosis and treatment for the prevention of further infection in endemic areas.