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Scientists Isolate Genetic Markers For Leprosy ... "fall within two Parkinson's-related genes" Monday, January 26, 2004. 9:17am (AEDT) Scientists say they have identified two DNA patterns that might help identify people most likely to catch leprosy, a highly infectious but curable disease. The genetic markers could be easily found by diagnosis or screening and could identify people who may not develop the disease but could harbour the infectious agent. "They are risk markers for leprosy and very significant ones," Erwin Schurr, of McGill University in Montreal in Canada said in an interview. Although leprosy can be diagnosed and cured, it still afflicts 700,000 people each year. Scientists are puzzled about why it is so persistent. "We do not know where these 700,000 new cases each year come from because every case gets picked up and is treated quite efficiently and there is no known [drug] resistance or animal or human reservoir," Mr Schurr said. "The markers may give us a handle to find the reason why leprosy has not gone away," he said. Mr Schurr suspects some people could act as "reservoirs" harbouring the infectious agent, but he stressed it is just a hypothesis and said more research is needed. He and his team found the markers by studying the genetic makeup of sufferers in Vietnam and Brazil. Their findings are reported in the online edition of the science journal Nature. Leprosy, which was first recorded in 600 BC, is caused by microbacterium Leprae, which multiplies slowly and affects mainly skin and nerves. Sufferers of the often disfiguring illness have often been treated as outcasts. The disease is treated with multi-drug therapy. Seventy per cent of leprosy patients are in India, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The researchers also discovered the genetic markers for leprosy fall within two Parkinson's-related genes which suggests a possible link between the two illnesses. "That's the million-dollar question," Mr Schurr said. He and his colleagues are planning further research to try to work out any possible molecular link. -- SOURCE: Reuters / Australian Broadcasting Corporation http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1031497.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn