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To end the decade-long, obstinately stagnant number of new leprosy cases, there is an urgent need for field-applicable diagnostic tools that detect infection with Mycobacterium leprae, leprosy's etiologic agent. Since immunity against M. leprae is characterized by humoral and cellular markers, we developed a lateral flow test measuring multiple host proteins based on six previously identified biomarkers for various leprosy phenotypes. This multi-biomarker test (MBT) demonstrated feasibility of quantitative detection of six host serum proteins simultaneously, jointly allowing discrimination of patients with multibacillary and paucibacillary leprosy from control individuals in high and low leprosy endemic areas. Pilot testing of fingerstick blood showed similar MBT performance in point-of-care (POC) settings as observed for plasma and serum. Thus, this newly developed prototype MBT measures six biomarkers covering immunity against M. leprae across the leprosy spectrum. The MBT thereby provides the basis for immunodiagnostic POC tests for leprosy with potential for other (infectious) diseases as well.

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The purpose of this study was to develop a small-group-focused suicide prevention program for elders with early-stage dementia and to assess its effects. This was a quasi-experimental study with a control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 62 elders diagnosed with early-stage dementia who were receiving care services at nine daycare centers in J City Korea participated in this study. The experimental group participated in the suicide prevention program twice a week for 5 weeks with a pretest and two posttests The developed suicide prevention program had a significant effect on the perceived health status, social support, depression, and suicidal ideation of elders with early-stage dementia. Nurses should integrate risk factors such as depression and protective factors such as health status and social support into a suicide prevention program. This community-based program in geriatric nursing practice can be effective in preventing suicide among elders with early-stage dementia.

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Facial paralysis resulting from leprosy has a serious impact on the entire face especially in the areas innervated by the facial nerves. In particular, lagophthalmos in patients with leprosy causes exposure keratitis, corneal, and conjunctival dryness, which can progress to blindness and disfigurement. Recently, we conducted 4 different temporalis muscle transfer (TMT) methods over the last 4 years to reduce ptosis. The methods used included Brown-McDowell, McCord-Codner, modified Gillies-Anderson, and modified Gillies. Seventy-five TMT operations in 60 patients were performed between 2011 and 2014. The mean age was 70.1. Fifteen patients had bilateral TMT procedures. As a result, ptosis appeared in 14(18.7%) of 75 TMT procedures for 4 years. To prevent or correct this complication, the following 4 technical refinements have simplified the surgery and yield better surgical outcomes. First, an increase in the length of the temporalis muscle flap to approximately 8 cm with a parallel course to the lateral canthus will reduce oblique pull. Second, the width of the fascia sling in the upper eyelid is narrowed (3-4 mm) to reduce weight on the eyelid. Third, the fascia sling in the upper lid should not be located along the full length of the upper lid but terminate 3.5 cm medial to lateral canthal tendon and in other words, should not be tied at the medial canthal tendon to reduce tension and weight. Lastly, the fascia sling in the eyelid should be located shallow (probably in subdermal layer) and as near as possible to the lid margin to prevent any functional disturbance in levator aponeurosis.

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Drug resistance in Mycobacterium leprae is a significant problem in countries where leprosy is endemic. A sensitive, specific, and high-throughput reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) for the detection of genotypic resistance to rifampicin (RIF) was designed and evaluated. It has been shown that resistance to RIF in M. leprae involves mutations in the rpoB gene encoding the -subunit of the RNA polymerase. The PCR-REBA simultaneously detects both 6 wild-type regions and 5 different mutations (507 AGC, 513 GTG, 516 TAT, 531 ATG, and 531 TTC) including the most prevalent mutations at positions 507 and 531. Thirty-one clinical isolates provided by Korea Institute of Hansen-s Disease were analyzed by PCR-REBA with RIF resistance of rpoB gene. As a result, missense mutations at codons 507 AGC and 531 ATG with 2-nucleotide substitutions were found in one sample, and a missense mutation at codon 516 TAT and ΔWT6 (deletion of 530-534) was found in another sample. These cases were confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. This rapid, simple, and highly sensitive assay provides a practical alternative to sequencing for genotypic evaluation of RIF resistance in M. leprae.

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BACKGROUND: Though the World Health Organization declared the 'elimination of leprosy as public health problem' in 2000, the disease remains endemic in many countries. Current trends in incidence of infection and disease are unclear. METHODS: Data on leprosy prevalence between 1977-2013 and data on new leprosy cases detected in the Republic of Korea between 1989-2013 were analysed by age, sex, clinical types, mode of detection, family history, disability grading and geographical distribution. RESULTS: Both prevalence and incidence have declined greatly. There has been a shift to an increased proportion of multibacillary disease, and older age groups, consistent with a dramatic decrease in infection transmission in recent decades. An increase in proportion of cases with family history of disease is consistent with these declines. There is evidence that declines in infection and disease have been greater in the north of the country, as revealed in patterns by place of birth over time. Cases in immigrants now form a substantial proportion of leprosy disease in the Republic of Korea. CONCLUSIONS: Leprosy has declined dramatically in the Republic of Korea in recent decades, and transmission of M. leprae may have effectively stopped. There remains a burden of care for individuals whose disease developed in the past, and there may be some additional newly detected cases among immigrants and among older individuals who acquired autochthonous infections decades ago.

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Leprosy is an infectious, neurodegenerative disease of humans caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Despite effective control programs, the incidence of leprosy remains stubbornly high, suggesting that transmission may be more common than expected. The rationale of this work was to use bioinformatics and comparative genomics to identify potentially antigenic proteins for diagnostic purposes. This approach defined three classes of proteins: those restricted to M. leprae (class I), those present in M. leprae with orthologues in other organisms besides mycobacteria (class II), and exported or surface-exposed proteins (class III). Twelve genes (two class I, four class II, and six class III proteins) were cloned in Escherichia coli, and their protein products were purified. Six of these proteins were detected in cell extracts of M. leprae by immunoblotting. The immunogenicity of each recombinant protein was then investigated in leprosy patients by measuring the reactivity of circulating antibody and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) responses in T-cell restimulation assays. Several class II and class III proteins were recognized by circulating antibodies. Importantly, most class II proteins elicited IFN-gamma responses that were significantly stronger than those produced by previously identified antigens. Among them, two class II proteins, ML0308 and ML2498, showed marked humoral and cellular immunogenicity, therefore providing promising candidates for the diagnosis of both tuberculoid and lepromatous forms of leprosy.

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DNA-PCR and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for the 18-kDa protein of Mycobacterium leprae were used to examine the efficacy of multi-drug therapy (MDT) in leprosy. MDT was administered for 0-24 months. Fourteen (63.6%) of 22 patients showed positive PCR results after treatment for 12 months and the positive results decreased to 30% after 24 months of MDT. These results did not correlate with the bacterial index (BI) or the IgM antibody titre for the phenolic glycolipid (PGL)-1. One-dimensional densitometric analysis of agarose gels from PCR from the longitudinal study showed a gradual reduction of the 360-bp band after 12-24 months of MDT. RT-PCR for mRNA of the 18-kDa protein successfully tracked bacterial RNA changes in the biopsies and confirmed a decrease in the RNA of M. leprae in patients after MDT for 12 months. Thus, DNA- and RT-PCR for the 18-kDa protein of M. leprae are effective in assessing the efficacy of MDT for leprosy.

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