Premium
Susceptibility and resistance in leprosy: Studies in the mouse model
Author(s) -
Adams Linda B.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
immunological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.839
H-Index - 223
eISSN - 1600-065X
pISSN - 0105-2896
DOI - 10.1111/imr.12960
Subject(s) - mycobacterium leprae , leprosy , biology , axenic , pathogen , intracellular parasite , microbiology and biotechnology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , immunology , obligate , disease , virology , bacteria , immune system , genetics , medicine , pathology , ecology
Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease caused by the pathogen, Mycobacterium leprae , and the more recently discovered, M. lepromatosis . Described in 1873, M. leprae was among the first microorganisms to be proposed as a cause of a human infectious disease. As an obligate intracellular bacterium, it has still not thus far been reproducibly cultivated in axenic medium or cell cultures. Shepard's mouse footpad assay, therefore, was truly a breakthrough in leprosy research. The generation of immunosuppressed and genetically engineered mice, along with advances in molecular and cellular techniques, has since offered more tools for the study of the M. leprae –induced granuloma. While far from perfect, these new mouse models have provided insights into the immunoregulatory mechanisms responsible for the spectrum of this complex disease.