Macrophage culture from untreated leprosy cases.

Macrophage cultures from the peripheral blood were performed in 25 untreated bacteraemic leprosy patients. The monocytes on conversion to macrophages in culture continued to harbour solidly stained M. Leprae till the termination of culture. It is suggested that the majority of these bacilli are viable and capable of multiplication intracellularly in macrophages if cultures could be maintained for sufficiently long periods. It was observed that bacteraemia in Leprosy can be detected by the culture technic. It has been found to be more sensitive than the leukocyte adherence method.

Behaviour of macrophages to Mycobacterium leprae. A tissue culture study.

Macrophage culture was performed on 45 healthy adults who were initially categorised on the basis of their Lepromin reactivity using Dharmendra antigen. There were 25 individuals in the Lepromin positive group and 20 in the Lepromin negative group. The cultures were challenged with M. leprae and the macrophages studied at varying time intervals of culture. No difference was evident in the behaviour of cultured macrophages to M. leprae in both the groups. The Lepra bacilli were phagocytosed by the macrophages and retained essentially intact till the termination of culture. The Lepromin reactivity of a healthy individual was not reflected on the macrophage function in vitro. The observations suggested against the possibility of an intrinsic genetically determined macrophage defect in dealing with M. leprae.

Persistence and distribution of Mycobacterium leprae in Aedes aegypti and Culex fatigans experimentally fed on leprosy patients.

Laboratory reared Aedes aegypti and Culex fatigans were experimentally fed on untreated lepromatous leprosy patients and the proboscides, guts and faeces of the mosquitoes were examiend at 12 hour intervals to determine the persistence and distribution of Mycobacterium leprae. In A. aegypti, bacilli persisted in proboscis till 156 hours, in gut 96 hours, and in faeces 72 hours after feeding. In C. fatigans--proboscides 144 hours, gut 96 hours and faeces 72 hours after feeding. In A. aegypti solid bacilli were present in proboscis upto 96 hours; in gut 48 hours and in faeces 42 hours after feeding. Corresponding figures for C. fatigans were: 144 hours for proboscis, 48 hours for gut, solid bacilli being absent in faeces. The results are discussed from the point of view of arthropod transmission.

Darier's Disease.

Fifteen cases of Darier's disease were studied. Males and females were in the ratio of 3:2. The disease appeared between the ages of 5 and 16 in majority (80%) of the patients. Family history was positive in only 60% cases. Itching was the main symptom in 2/3rd (66.6%) of cases. Seven cases experienced aggravation of the disease in summer. Recurrent skin infection and eczematisation were present in 5 cases. Majority of patients had typical lesions. Severity of the disease was directly related to its duration. Acrokeratosis verruciformis like lesions over the hands and feet were present in all the cases and 86.6% of cases had palmoplantar keratoderma. Mucosal lesions were seen in 73.3 % of cases. These unusual findings are not often stressed in clinical practice and need to be highlighted. Leucoderma guttate yet another unusual finding was seen in 20% of cases.

Malignant Melanoma of Oral Cavity.

Primary malignant melanoma of oral cavity is very rare. A case of oral melanoma who died due to metastasis a year after the excision of the primary lesion is reported along with a brief review of the literature.

Transfer of leprosy bacilli from patients to mouse footpads by Aedes aegypti.

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which were first allowed to feed on untreated lepromatous leprosy patients, and then to refeed on mouse footpads were found to transfer Mycobacterium leprae to the footpads as seen by the subsequent multiplication of the bacilli in the footpads. Results presently available are insufficient to come to any conclusion about the actual role of mosquitoes in the transmission of leprosy in the field.

Experimental transmission of leprosy to animals: a preliminary note on attempt to transmit leprosy to the Slender loris, Loris tardigradus (Linnaeus).

A brief account of the Slender Loris, Loris tardigradus (Linnaeus) and some of its characteristics which render it suitable for leprosy transmission experiments are recorded. Handling and inoculation methods are given with some of the preliminary inoculation site biopsy results.

Delayed hypersensitivity tests with Mycobacterium leprae purified protein derivative.

Skin tests were conducted on 3 lepromatous, 3 dimorphous and 6 tuberculoid leprosy patients and 3 others not suffering from leprosy with lepromin, purified protein derivative from M. leprae of armadillo origin and tuberculin. Results show that a delayed hypersensitivity reaction could be produced with PPD in 72 hours on all Mitsuda positive cases, with one anomalous exception, without cross reaction to tuberculin. The results were promising from the point of view of substituting lepromin with PPD in usual tests.