Malaty R, Meyers W M, Walsh G P, Binford C H, Zimmerman L E, Baskin G B, Gormus B J, Martin L N, Wolf R H
LSU Eye Center, New Orleans 70112.
Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1988 Sep;56(3):443-8.
Leprosy is the third leading cause of preventable blindness; however, little is known about the spread of infection to the eye. We have studied the eyes of three sooty managabey monkeys. Two were experimentally infected with Mycobacterium leprae; the third was not infected. In one of the infected animals there was histopathological evidence of lepromatous leprosy as evidenced by a chronic inflammatory infiltrate at the limbus, and detection of acid-fast bacilli in the corneal stroma, blood vessel walls, and corneal nerves. The latter were damaged as a result of the bacillary invasion. Electron microscopy revealed involvement and distortion of keratocytes with M. leprae and invasion of the corneal stroma by macrophages containing bacilli. Both infected animals showed focal collections of lymphocytes in the superficial stroma of the conjunctiva and in the ciliary body. This is the first report of the ocular manifestations of leprosy in any primate, including man, in which the duration of infection is known.
麻风病是可预防失明的第三大主要病因；然而，关于感染传播至眼部的情况却知之甚少。我们研究了三只黑掌卷尾猴的眼睛。其中两只经实验感染了麻风分枝杆菌；第三只未被感染。在其中一只受感染的动物中，有瘤型麻风的组织病理学证据，表现为角膜缘处慢性炎性浸润，以及在角膜基质、血管壁和角膜神经中检测到抗酸杆菌。后者因杆菌入侵而受损。电子显微镜检查显示，麻风分枝杆菌累及角膜细胞并使其变形，含杆菌的巨噬细胞侵入角膜基质。两只受感染的动物在结膜浅层基质和睫状体中均出现淋巴细胞灶性聚集。这是关于包括人类在内的任何灵长类动物麻风病眼部表现的首次报告，其中感染持续时间是已知的。
