Abstract

SERRANO-COLL, Héctor Alejandro  and  CARDONA-CASTRO, Nora. Leprous Neuropathy: an integral view of the peripheral damages caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Salud, Barranquilla [online]. 2017, vol.33, n.3, pp.451-463. ISSN 0120-5552.

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. In the course of this disease patients can develop a peripheral neuropathy called leprous neuropathy, which is responsible for the appearance of disabilities in eyes, hands and feet.

A structured search was performed in Pubmed and OVID databases using the following MeSH terms: leprosy, neuropathy, peripheral nerves, Schwann cell, disability and biomarkers. 83.8 % of the articles referenced in this review were selected by this search Neural damage in leprosy is an event that involves multiple pathophysiological mechanisms, including the host immune response and the interaction of M. leprae with different ligands in Schwann cells. This allows for the activation of cell signaling pathways that induce inflammation, demyelination and damage to the axon, which results in sensory and motor disability in leprosy patients. Despite the progress that has been made in the lasts decades in understanding this neuropathy, this has not been reflected in tools or biomarkers useful for early detection of peripheral damage caused by leprosy.

In the last decades a lot of progress has been made in understanding leprous neuropathy. Unfortunately this has not been reflected in the discovery of tools or biomarkers which are useful for the early detection of peripheral damage.

Keywords : leprosy; peripheral nerves; Schwann cells; disability; biomarkers; neuropathy.

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