Hepatitis-B virus infection in patients with leprosy--a brief communication

The prevalence rate of hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) were determined in 413 patients of different types of leprosy and 133 healthy controls from the same population, in a study undertaken over a period of more than 3 years. The average frequency of australia antigen (HBsAg) was 7.7% in leprosy cases as compared to 6.0% in their healthy counterparts. Across the spectrum 7.2% of lepromatous patients (LL); 8.5% of borderline lepromatous (BL); 9.1% of borderline borderline (BB); 8.6% of borderline tuberculoid (BT) and 8.8% of tuberculoid (TT) cases were positive for HBsAg. Though the prevalence of australia antigen was slightly higher in borderline tuberculoid, borderline borderline and tuberculoid cases, it is not statistically significant. No association between carriership of HBsAg and lepromatous leprosy could be found in the present study.

Effect of pyridine extraction on the acid fastness of mycobacteria

The effect of pyridine extraction on mycobacterial acid-fastness has been studied using M. leprae and some cultivable mycobacteria. The results revealed that not only M. leprae but some other mycobacteria, notably, M. vaccae and M. phlei also lose their acid-fastness when extracted with fresh pyridine for 2 hours at room temperature. The implication of these findings is discussed.

Abnormal tryptophan pyrrolase and amino acids related to melanogenesis in vitiligo

A comparison of the serum tyrosine, DOPA, tryptophan, tyrosinase and tryptophan pyrrolase levels of vitiliginous patients with those of normal subjects show abnormalities in all these parameters. As the clinical diagnosis of vitiligo may be made without difficulty, these parameters appear to be of little diagnostic value in vitiligo. But they may be considered as additional biochemical parameters in vitiligo.

Solid, fragmented and granular index as one of the parameters in drug trials

A bacteriological study of the skin smears of 108 bacteriologically positive cases of leprosy, 30 of them untreated, has been undertaken. In each case solid, fragmented and granular (SFG) index, bacteriological index (BI) and morphological index (MI) of skin smears from 4 sites were calculated. The results show that SFG index together with BI can be used as one of the parameters in drug trials. The importance of SFG index in research and as a routine laboratory procedure in leprosy control units undertaking multi drug therapy is discussed.

Biochemical correlation of M. vaccae with M. leprae

The biochemical tests, namely, niacin, catalase, nitrate reduction, tween hydrolysis, tellurite reduction, arylsulfatase and urease tests were carried out for all the mycobacteria which are immunogenically closely related to M. leprae. Among them only M. vaccae shows closest relationship with M. leprae when compared with its communicated data. Except for the tellurite reduction test which was variable in case of M. leprae, all the other tests were found similar to that of M. leprae. In the next experiment, the thin-layer chromatographic pattern of mycolates from M. leprae has been compared with that of M. leprae. The presence of Keto-mycolate in the cell wall structure of both M. vaccae and M. leprae also reflects their biochemical relationship at their ultrastructural level.

Sex Education

Sex education is very important specially for the growing persons as it helps to develop a proper understanding and healthy attitude towards sex. When, where, how and to whom sex education should be started have been discussed. The aim of sex education with special reference to venereal diseases has also been emphasised.

Reversal reaction in patients with lepromatous leprosy after transplantation of human fetal thymic grafts

An attempt has been made to reconstitute impaired cell-mediated immunity in 1 patient with indeterminate, 4 patients with borderline and 2 patients with polar lepromatous leprosy by grafting three thymus glands obtained from human fetuses of 14--19 weeks gestation. Most of these patients had severe ulcerative erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) and were intolerant to dapsone. After thymus transplantation these patients were followed for 1 1/2 years. During this period, all conventional chemotherapy had been withdrawn. In most cases, there was dramatic improvement of the clinical condition, resolution of skin lesions, subsidence of ENL, clearance of bacteria from skin and reconstitution of several immunologic deficits; but late lepromin reactivity returned in none, which indicated permanent lose of resistance to Mycobacterium leprae.

Dyslipidemia and Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Children with Down Syndrome

Introduction: Down Syndrome (trisomy 21) provides an interesting natural model to study atherosclerosis, since these individuals appear to be protected from plaque formation. Methodology: We assessed the lipid levels, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in 32 clinically diagnosed children of Down syndrome and 34 children matched for age and sex as controls. Results: SOD activity was found to be significantly higher (p=0.004) in children with Down Syndrome (mean=313.7 IU/ml) than in controls (mean140.2 IU/ ml). Significantly higher levels of serum triglyceride (154.7 mg/dl) and VLDL (33.9 mg/dl) were observed in Down Syndrome as compared to healthy controls (119.6 mg/dl and 23.9 mg/dl respectively; p<0.05 for each). However, the two groups did not show any significant difference in levels of serum HDL-C, LDL-C. Conclusion: The raised antioxidant activity of SOD, because of over expression of genes situated non chromosome 21, probably offers some protection against the development of atherosclerosis despite the occurrence of dyslipidemia. Key words: Chromosome 21; Down Syndrome; Trisomy 21; Superoxide dismutase.  DOI: 10.3126/jnps.v30i3.3919J Nep Paedtr Soc 2010;30(3):160-163