الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Leprosy, also known as Hansen‘s disease, is a chronic infection caused by M. leprae bacteria which primarily targets mainly the skin, peripheral nerves. It is an obligate intracellular pathogen that infects macrophages and Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system. Leprosy has a wide range of clinical manifestations, which may be progressive and cause permanent damage if left without treatment. Based on bacillary load, leprosy is classified as paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) forms. Although the number of new cases decreased globally according to WHO records, it’s still a public health problem especially in underdeveloped areas in the world. Nutritional deficiencies are common in countries in which leprosy is endemic and that may affect the immune response in different aspects. Deficiency of trace elements and vitamins affect the innate and adaptive immune response, causing an unbalance of the host response to pathogens. Hence our study aims to elucidate the relation between the serum level of zinc, vit C and selenium and the clinical spectrum of leprosy. The study was conducted on twenty leprotic patients (10 MB- 10 PB) who were selected from Kafr-Elsheikh dermatology and leprosy hospital twenty healthy individuals as a control group. All the patients were subjected to full history taking ,complete general examination, nerve examination for tenderness or enlargement at suspected areas and dermatological examination and then slit skin smears were done. Blood samples were collected to assess serum level of vit C, zinc and selenium. The study showed that Zinc serum level was significantly lower in paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) than in controls with no significant difference between paucibacillary and multibacillary patients. Vit C serum level was also significantly lower in paucibacillary and multibacillary than in controls and no significant difference between paucibacillary and multibacillary patients. Selenium level showed no significant difference between any of the three groups. |