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2025-12-31
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CLINICAL ASPECTS OF LEPROSY
Communicable diseases
Leprostatic agents
Disease progression
Mycobacterium leprae
Adaptive immunity
Mycobacterium leprae
Hansenostáticos
Doenças Transmissíveis
Progressão da Doença
Imunidade Adaptativa
Affilliation
Fundação de Dermatologia Tropical e Venereologia Alfredo da Matta. Manaus, AM, Brasil.
Universidade Nilton Lins. Departamento de Dermatologia. Manaus, AM, Brasil.
Universidade de Brasília. Faculdade de Medicina. Núcleo de Medicina Tropical. Brasília, DF, Brasil.
Universidade Nilton Lins. Departamento de Dermatologia. Manaus, AM, Brasil.
Universidade de Brasília. Faculdade de Medicina. Núcleo de Medicina Tropical. Brasília, DF, Brasil.
Abstract
Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It mainly affects the peripheral nervous system, skin, and certain other tissues such as the reticulo-endothelial system, bones and joints, mucous membranes, eyes, testes, muscles, and adrenals. Leprosy clinical presentation varies from few to widespread lesions. In most patients, early leprosy presents as macular and hypopigmented lesions. This initial clinical presentation is known as indeterminate leprosy and occurs in individuals who have not developed cell-mediated immunity against M. leprae yet. The number of lesions depends on the genetically determined cellular immunity of the patient. Individuals presenting a vigorous cellular immune response and limited humoral immune responses to M. leprae, usually present few skin lesions. Without treatment, those patients tend to evolve into the polar tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid form of leprosy. Due to the inability to mount an effective cellular-mediated response to M. leprae and the consequent hematogenous spread of the bacilli, some patients may present with numerous and symmetrically distributed hypochromic lesions. Without treatment these patients evolve to a nonresistant form of leprosy, polar lepromatous.
Keywords
LeprosyCommunicable diseases
Leprostatic agents
Disease progression
Mycobacterium leprae
Adaptive immunity
DeCS
HanseníaseMycobacterium leprae
Hansenostáticos
Doenças Transmissíveis
Progressão da Doença
Imunidade Adaptativa
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