title: Leprosy as a model of immunity.
abstract: Leprosy displays a spectrum of clinical manifestations, such as lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy, and type I and II lepra reactions, which are thought to be a reflection of the host's immunological response against Mycobacterium leprae. Therefore, differential recognition of M. leprae, as well as its degraded components, and subsequent activation of cellular immunity will be an important factor for the clinical manifestation of leprosy. Although M. leprae mainly parasitizes tissue macrophages in the dermis and the Schwann cells of peripheral nerves, the presence of M. leprae in other organs, such as the liver, may also play important roles in the further modification of seesaw-like bipolar phenotypes of leprosy. Thus, leprosy is an exciting model for investigating the role of the human immune system in host defense and susceptibility to infection.
authors: Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 4-2-1 Aoba-cho, Higashimurayama, Tokyo 189-0002, Japan.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Degang
authors: Kazuaki
authors: K
authors: Nakamura
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Akama
authors: Yuko
authors: Y
authors: Ishido
authors: Yuqian
authors: Y
authors: Luo
authors: Norihisa
authors: N
authors: Ishii
authors: Koichi
authors: K
authors: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology