Adherence of Mycobacterium leprae to the nasal mucosa is influenced by surface integrity and viability.
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Date
1997-12
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Abstract
The intranasal route is one of the main routes of Mycobacterium leprae infection and
there is paucity of information regarding the mode of spread of the pattern. The adherence of M.
leprae to the nasal mucosa, its trapping within the sinuses of the head, and its fate after entry into
the host was studied using mouse model. A comparison of the adherence profile of M. leprae and
Mycobacterium tuberculosis showed that while larger numbers of M. tuberculosis were demonstrated
within lungs, greater numbers of M. leprae were present within the sinuses of the head.
Adherence of M. leprae to the nasal mucosa was dependent on surface integrity since opsonization
and heat killing resulted in decreased numbers of M. leprae in the nasal sinuses and
a greater amount entering the lungs. The adherence appeared to the independent of the viability of
the bacilli, as similar numbers of formalin-fixed, rifampicin -treated and viable M. leprae entered
the lungs in the initial stages. However the numbers of rifampicin-treated M. leprae in the nasal
sinuses were 12-fold lower than the numbers of viable M. leprae. These results indicated that both
viability and surface integrity were important in the entry of M. leprae and it's consequent
dissemination.
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Keywords
Adherence, Mycobacterium leprae, nasal mucosa, intranasal inoculation
Citation
Sethna Kamal B, Birdi Tannaz J, Antia Noshir H. Adherence of Mycobacterium leprae to the nasal mucosa is influenced by surface integrity and viability. Journal of Biosciences. 1997 Dec; 22(5): 575-583.