TY - JOUR
T1 - Demonstration of acid-fast bacilli in skin biopsies from indeterminate leprosy cases
AU - Alvarez-Mendoza, Antonio
AU - Escobar-Gutierrez, Alejandro
AU - Amezcua-Chavarria, Maria Eugenia
AU - Lara-Padilla, Eleazar
AU - Salgado-Navarro, Jesus
PY - 1988/5
Y1 - 1988/5
N2 - Because the correct diagnosis of indeterminate leprosy (IL) requires the finding of acid-fast bacilli in skin lesions from clinically and histopathologically suggestive cases, it is necessary to develop a reliable method for this purpose. This paper presents a simple procedure, available to every general laboratory, which consists in obtaining 2 suspensions: SI, by mincing and grinding the tissue in phosphate-buffered saline; and SII, after treating SI with NaOH solution and digesting with trypsin. In 22 IL skin biopsies, bacilli were directly observed in only 3 with the Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain; and with the perox-idase-antiperoxidase method it was impossible to differentiate between nonspecific precipitate and true positive reactions. In contrast, 18 positive results from the same 22 samples were obtained when both SI and SII were evaluated with ZN stain. The logarithmic bacterial index was also increased in at least 7 cases.
AB - Because the correct diagnosis of indeterminate leprosy (IL) requires the finding of acid-fast bacilli in skin lesions from clinically and histopathologically suggestive cases, it is necessary to develop a reliable method for this purpose. This paper presents a simple procedure, available to every general laboratory, which consists in obtaining 2 suspensions: SI, by mincing and grinding the tissue in phosphate-buffered saline; and SII, after treating SI with NaOH solution and digesting with trypsin. In 22 IL skin biopsies, bacilli were directly observed in only 3 with the Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain; and with the perox-idase-antiperoxidase method it was impossible to differentiate between nonspecific precipitate and true positive reactions. In contrast, 18 positive results from the same 22 samples were obtained when both SI and SII were evaluated with ZN stain. The logarithmic bacterial index was also increased in at least 7 cases.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0023900888&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0035-9203(88)90174-5
DO - 10.1016/0035-9203(88)90174-5
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0035-9203
VL - 82
SP - 492
EP - 494
JO - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
JF - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
IS - 3
ER -