Human immunodeficiency virus and leprosy coinfection: challenges in resource-limited setups

Lepromatous leprosy as a presenting feature of HIV

Various bacterial, mycobacterial and fungal opportunistic infections occur frequently in immunocompromised individuals, however, leprosy in retroviral disease is a relatively rare association. Hereby, we report a case of lepromatous leprosy that presented with clinical features mimicking other opportunistic infections and subsequently led to the diagnosis of HIV. The myriad challenges associated with the diagnosis and management of HIV-leprosy coinfection are also discussed. Thus, although uncommon, atypical cutaneous lesions in HIV-seropositive patients warrant investigation for leprosy.

LEPROSY AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS COINFECTION: A RARE CASE REPORT

Leprosy, or Hansen disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae which is associated with inflammation that may damage the skin and the peripheral nerves. Leprosy remains an important public health problem in Southeast Asia, America, and Africa. It has been speculated that, as with TB, HIV infection may exacerbate leprosy lesions and/or lead to increased susceptibility to leprosy. We report the case of leprosy and HIV co-infection and reveals its clinical manifestation. A 34-year-old female came to outpatient clinic complaining of rednessplaque on her face of 2-months duration. It was also accompanied with thick sensation but without itchy or burning sensation. We found thick erythematous plaque with sharp margin and hypoesthesia on her face and body. There were no madarosis, saddle nose, lagophthalmos, nor sign of neuritis. The slit-skin smear revealed BI 1+ globi and MI 2%. From laboratory examination we found CBC was within normal limit, IgM anti PGL-1 titer was 1265 u/mL and IgG anti PGL-1 was 834 u/mL Both histological examination on her ear lobe and extremity revealed that was similar to the lesion of leprosy. The detection of HIV antibody was positive with CD4 count on 325 cells/μL. We treat her with MDT for MB leprosy along with ART (Tenofovir, Lamivudine, and Efavirenz). After 6-months follow-up we observed no progression of the lesions though the slit-skin smear after completing 6 months of therapy become negative. M. leprae does not seem to accelerate the decline of immune function when associated with HIV infection. HIV infection does not seem to affect the clinical classification and progression of leprosy. Treatment of the HIV-leprosy co-infected patient consists of the combination of ARTs and anti-leprosy agents. So that, the treatment of leprosy and HIV co-infection does not differ from that of a seronegative leprosy patient.

Co-existence of mycobacterial infections: is it an emerging issue with retroviral infections?

We report a 46-year-old woman presenting with leprosy, HIV and active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). It is advisable to screen for each one of TB, HIV and leprosy patients, especially when an extra feature emerges. Particularly in a leprosy case, if TB remains undiagnosed, the development of rifampicin resistance secondary to monotherapy in leprosy is a major concern.

Correlates of immune exacerbations in leprosy

Leprosy is still a considerable health threat in pockets of several low and middle income countries worldwide where intense transmission is witnessed, and often results in irreversible disabilities and deformities due to delayed- or misdiagnosis. Early detection of leprosy represents a substantial hurdle in present-day leprosy health care. The dearth of timely diagnosis has, however, particularly severe consequences in the case of inflammatory episodes, designated leprosy reactions, which represent the major cause of leprosy-associated irreversible neuropathy. There is currently no accurate, routine diagnostic test to reliably detect leprosy reactions, or to predict which patients will develop these immunological exacerbations. Identification of host biomarkers for leprosy reactions, particularly if correlating with early onset prior to development of clinical symptoms, will allow timely interventions that contribute to decreased morbidity. Development of a point-of-care (POC) test based on such correlates would be a definite game changer in leprosy health care. In this review, proteomic-, transcriptomic and metabolomic research strategies aiming at identification of host biomarker-based correlates of leprosy reactions are discussed, next to external factors associated with occurrence of these episodes. The vast diversity in research strategies combined with the variability in patient- and control cohorts argues for harmonisation of biomarker discovery studies with geographically overarching study sites. This will improve identification of specific correlates associated with risk of these damaging inflammatory episodes in leprosy and subsequent application to rapid field tests.

Assessment of vocation of rifabutin and rifapentine in replace of rifampcin in drug resistance leprosy patients: a molecular simulation study

The emergence of drug resistance in leprosy is a major hurdle in leprosy elimination programme. Although the problem of drug resistance is presently not acute, it is important that we collect data more systematically and monitor the trend carefully so that effective measures to combat this problem can be developed. The present study aimed at the explication of cross resistance of rifabutin and rifapentine to rifampicin which would be helpful to programme managers for implementing rifabutin or rifapentine in replace of rifampicin. In this study we built 3D model of the M. leprae rpoB using Swiss Model and the modelled structure was docked with rifampicin, rifabutin and rifapentine. We established that these 3 antibiotics interact with the same binding region in the modelled rpoB of M. leprae. Thus we conclude that vocation of rifabutin and rifapentine could not be suitable in replace of rifampicin to combat with drug resistance leprosy.

Leprosy Reactions in Patients Coinfected with HIV: Clinical Aspects and Outcomes in Two Comparative Cohorts in the Amazon Region, Brazil

Background

Leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, can lead to scarring and deformities. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a lymphotropic virus with high rates of replication, leads to cell death in various stages of infection. These diseases have major social and quality of life costs, and although the relevance of their comorbidity is recognized, several aspects are still not fully understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Two cohorts of patients with leprosy in an endemic region of the Amazon were observed. We compared 40 patients with leprosy and HIV (Group 1) and 107 leprosy patients with no comorbidity (Group 2) for a minimum of 2 years. Group 1 predominantly experienced the paucibacillary classification, accounting for 70% of cases, whereas Group 2 primarily experienced the multibacillary classification (80.4% of cases). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of leprosy reactions among the two groups (37.5% for Group 1 vs. 56.1% for Group 2), and the most frequent reaction was Type 1. The appearance of Group 1 patients’ reversal reaction skin lesions was consistent with each clinical form: typically erythematous and infiltrated, with similar progression as those patients without HIV, which responded to prednisone. Patients in both groups primarily experienced a single episode (73.3% in Group 1 and 75% in Group 2), and Group 1 had shorter reaction periods (≤3 months; 93.3%), moderate severity (80%), with 93.3% of the patients in the state of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and 46.7% presenting the reaction at the time of the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.

Conclusions/Significance

This study used a large sample and makes a significant contribution to the clinical outcomes of patients in the reactive state with comorbid HIV and leprosy. The data indicate that these diseases, although concurrent, have independent courses.

Leprosy and HIV infections, separately, are serious modern public health problems. Many studies have been conducted on these diseases, but knowledge gaps remain. This article provides the first account of important clinical information on a significant sample of patients with leprosy, as well as patients with both leprosy and HIV, who were followed over a period of 24 months. We compared the clinical outcome of both groups, observed the occurrence of reactional episodes, and examined the characteristics of these episodes. The sample consisted of 40 co-infected patients (Group 1) and 107 patients with leprosy only (Group 2). Group 1 was characterized by high levels of paucibacillary leprosy cases (70%) and the borderline tuberculoid clinical form (45%), while Group 2 predominantly exhibited multibacillary leprosy (86%) and the borderline clinical form (40.2%). The Type I reaction was present in 13 and 34 patients of Groups 1 and 2, respectively. The Amazon region, where the study was conducted, is an endemic region for both diseases, which can be useful for conducting studies such as these owing to the generalizability of the results. This study seeks to contribute to the knowledge of the natural history of HIV and leprosy comorbidity.