Background
Leprosy is curable by multidrug therapy (MDT) treatment regimen ranging from six to 12 months. The variable levels of tolerance and adherence among patients can, however, result in treatment failure and the emergence of drug-resistant strains. Objectives: Describe the impact of MDT over Mycobacterium leprae viability in patient's oral and nasal mucosa along treatment.
Conclusions
We concluded that qPCR of 16S rRNA for the determination of M. leprae viability in nasal and oral scraping samples could represent an interesting approach to monitor treatment efficacy.
Methods
Mycobacterium leprae viability was monitored by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) quantification of 16S rRNA in lateral and contralateral scrapings of oral and nasal mucosa of 10 multibacillary patients along the initial five months of treatment. Findings: The