Uptake of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides by macrophage-resident Mycobacterium leprae: 3H-adenosine as an indicator of viability and antimicrobial activity.
Freshly extracted human- and armadillo-derived Mycobacterium leprae maintained within murine macrophages incorporated significant levels (p less than 0.05 to p less than 0.001) of 3H-adenosine and 3H-hypoxanthine by 6 and 9 days of the culture period. The incorporation of 3H-adenosine was twofold or more higher than 3H-thymidine in 10 out of 15 human-derived M. leprae isolates. Macrophage-adapted bacilli incorporated 10-14-fold higher levels of 3H-adenosine compared to the same bacilli maintained in axenic cultures. The incorporation of these two labels was inhibited by dapsone and rifampin, indicating the utility of in vitro radiometric assays for screening antileprosy drugs and drug sensitivity/resistance in patients.
Department of Biotechnology, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi.
K V
KV
Harshan
A
A
Mittal
H K
HK
Prasad
R S
RS
Misra
N K
NK
Chopra
I
I
Nath
D000818:Animals; D001135:Armadillos; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003622:Dapsone / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011684:Purine Nucleosides / Q000378:metabolism*; D011741:Pyrimidine Nucleosides / Q000378:metabolism*; D012293:Rifampin / Q000494:pharmacology
D011684:Purine Nucleosides; D011741:Pyrimidine Nucleosides; D003622:Dapsone; D012293:Rifampin