title: [Functional changes of macrophages in Hansen's disease].
abstract: As an obligate intracellular pathogen, the principal host cells for Mycobacterium leprae are mononuclear phagocytes or macrophages. The macrophage is a primitive cell type being found in both early and advanced life forms, and possesses a variety of functions, such as phagocytosis of invaded bacteria, production of cytokines, antigen presentation and tumor killing. Hansen's disease is a chronic infectious disease characterized by specific host immune responses against M. leprae. In this article the macrophage is focused to dissect its functions in the disease.
authors.affiliation: Lab. 2, Department of Microbiology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 4-2-1, Aoba-cho, Higashimurayama-shi, Tokyo, 189-0002, Japan. fukutomi@nih.go.jp
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukutomi
mesh_terms: D017951:Antigen Presentation; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology*; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology; D010587:Phagocytosis
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines