Influence of detection and elimination of oral infection focus on the reactional episodes development in Leprosy patients: three years of follow-up

Abstract

Considering that reactional episodes consist of a frequent complication (70% of cases) of leprosy course, the aim of this study is to reevaluate leprosy patients who underwent oral infection treatment in order to evaluate the maintenance or not of the clinical state after treating the oral infections. Leprosy patients from Leprosy Clinics of Dermatology Division of the Clinical Hospital of Ribeirão Preto Medical School/USP who underwent oral infections treatment during the period from 2006 to 2008, will be selected for this study: group 1 - 19 leprosy patients who presented oral infection and treated this infection (test group); and group 2 - 19 – leprosy patients without oral infections (control group). After the recruitment and permission from the patients, it will be made a clinical examination of the skin and oral cavity, collection of blood samples for biochemistry analysis, complete hematological evaluation, quantification of the C-reactive protein, VHS, antibody anti-PGL-1, and the cytokines: IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-alfa, and IFN-gama. As long as all exams have been made, all data will be compared to those obtained before the study, when the leprosy patients underwent evaluations and therapeutical interventions.(AU)