ANIMAL-MODEL TO STUDY THE MECHANISM OF NERVE DAMAGE IN LEPROSY - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Intraneural injection of 10-20 x 10(6) viable Mycobacterium leprae int o the sciatic nerve of normal, unsensitized, Swiss white mice gives ri se to a tuberculoid type of granulomatous response in 2 weeks. The sam e dose of viable M. leprae when injected into the sciatic nerves of un sensitized immunosuppressed mice (T200 x 5R) elicited a macrophage res ponse. When macrophages were systemically immobilized using an intrape ritoneal injection of silica quartz dust in normal mice, the lesion pr oduced was of the lepromatous type, suggesting a role for the macropha ge in the induction of the tuberculoid type of granulomatous response. In all of these in situ experiments, M. leprae failed to enter the Sc hwann cells.