leprosy

Objective. The development of a method for identifying frequent genetic determinants of Mycobacterium leprae clinical isolates resistance to three groups of antimicrobial drugs: dapsone, rifampicin and fluoroquinolones using SNaPshot technique. Materials and Methods. The study included M. leprae clinical isolates obtained from skin biopsies of patients undergoing leprosy treatment at the Sergiev Posad branch of the State Research Center of Dermatovenereology and Cosmetology of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

Objective. To develop the method for determining the viability of M. leprae using polymerase chain reaction to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. Materials and Methods. 54 scarifications and 10 biopsies of the skin of patients with leprosy were studied. Ribosomal 16S rRNA genes were used as a target. Results. The high sensitivity and specificity of the developed real-time reverse transcription PCR method was established. M. leprae were detected on average 2 times more often by RT-PCR compared with the bacterioscopy method both before treatment and after its six-month course (p < 0.