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LEPROSY
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The Turing Foundation aims at the elimination of leprosy as a disfiguring disease
and supports scientific research into diagnosing and curing the desease, and preventing its spread.
Most recent projects:
 July 2022 |
Extra clofazimine for MB cases at high risk of ENL reactions, 2022-2025 Erythema Nodosum Leprosum (ENL) is a serious and very painful leprosy complication. The disease can be... more |  July 2022 |
Immunomodulation by Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii (MIP) in MB leprosy, 2022-2023 Leprosy patients can be effectively treated with multi-drug treatment (MDT), but they are still... more |
 July 2022 |
MetLep Trial: Metformin as adjunct therapy for MB leprosy, 2022-2023 Metformin is a cheap and safe medicine which has been used to treat diabetes for a long time. Research into... more |  July 2022 |
ENLIST Randomised controlled trials of methotrexate in Erythema Nodosum Leprosum, 2022-2024 Erythema Nodosum Leprosum (ENL) is a serious and very painful leprosy complication. It is... more |
 January 2022 |
COMBINE: Leprosy elimination by community screening & mass chemoprophylaxis, Kiribati, 2022-2025 Transmission of both leprosy and tuberculosis is through the respiratory tract and... more |  January 2022 |
Endgame strategy for leprosy in the Maldives: optimal targeting of post-exposure prophylaxis to interrupt transmission, Maldives, 2022 The Maldives want to become leprosy-free in the... more |
 January 2022 |
Contribution to the leprosy research department of Netherlands Leprosy Relief, 2021-2022 The Turing Foundation has been co-financing projects related to the fight against leprosy... more |  January 2022 |
Point-of-care tests for leprosy in South America, 2021-2024 The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) team has developed a simple diagnostic test in previous studies. This... more |
 January 2022 |
Molecular Methods in Subclinical Models of Leprosy to Test PEP, 2022 Whilst multi-drug therapy has been very successful in reducing the global prevalence of leprosy, new cases still... more | ||
Scientific Research
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Extra clofazimine for MB cases at high risk of ENL reactions, 2022-2025
Erythema Nodosum Leprosum (ENL) is a serious and very painful leprosy complication. The disease can be treated with the drug clofazimine. This research project aims to evaluate whether treating leprosy patients with extra clofazimin reduces the severity and frequency of ENL and whether it prevents nerve damage over a 24-month period. The Bombay Leprosy Project research is being conducted in Bangladesh and India. The Turing Foundation is contributing € 100,000 towards this project (of which, € 23,500 in 2022). See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  M. Leprae bacterie |
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Immunomodulation by Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii (MIP) in MB leprosy, 2022-2023
Leprosy patients can be effectively treated with multi-drug treatment (MDT), but they are still susceptible to being reinfected with leprosy. It has been demonstrated that the MIP (Mycobacterium indicus pranii) vaccine can teach the immune system to activate an immune response when it encounters M. leprae. This process is called 'immune modulation'. The National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (ICMR) in India uses advanced techniques to investigate the cells involved in an immune response and the differences between MIP-vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. The research aims to better understand the underlying mechanism of immune response and immune modulation, and use the knowledge gained to fight leprosy more effectively. The Turing Foundation is contributing € 94,000 towards this project (of which, € 27,800 in 2022). See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  M. Leprae bacterie |
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MetLep Trial: Metformin as adjunct therapy for MB leprosy, 2022-2023
Metformin is a cheap and safe medicine which has been used to treat diabetes for a long time. Research into tuberculosis patients, which is caused by a bacterium similar to leprosy, has demonstrated that metformin has a beneficial effect on the immune system. The IOCRL (Universities of Indonesia and Oxford Clinical Research Laboratory) is investigating the extent to which treatment of leprosy with metformin can reduce the degree and severity of leprosy reactions and prevent its consequences. The research is being conducted in Indonesia. The Turing Foundation is contributing € 100,000 towards this project (of which, € 22,000 in 2022). See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  M. Leprae bacterie |
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ENLIST Randomised controlled trials of methotrexate in Erythema Nodosum Leprosum, 2022-2024
Erythema Nodosum Leprosum (ENL) is a serious and very painful leprosy complication. It is often chronic and causes serious morbidity, not only affecting the skin but also bones, joints, eyes, nerves, testes, and kidneys. Effective treatment for ENL is available but expensive, has considerable side-effects, and is often inaccessible in many countries where leprosy is endemic. Methotrexate is cheap and has been used all over the world to treat conditions like psoriasis since the 1950s. This medicine is possibly an effective alternative to prednisolone (the most widely used corticosteroid treatment for ENL). The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will validate this by inviting patients with ENL in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines to take part in a study where some patients are prescribed methotrexate, and others prednisolone. The Turing Foundation is contributing €350,000 towards this research (€30.000 in 2022). See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  Randomised controlled trials of methotrexate in Erythema Nodosum Leprosum |
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COMBINE: Leprosy elimination by community screening & mass chemoprophylaxis, Kiribati, 2022-2025
Transmission of both leprosy and tuberculosis is through the respiratory tract and is greatly increased in places where many people live close together in poor economic conditions. The Pacific Leprosy Foundation trial "COMBINE" in Kiribati (an island republic in Oceania) focuses on population-wide screening, treatment and MDA chemoprophylaxis for both leprosy and tuberculosis. Patients with skin lesions potentially caused by leprosy are referred to a specialised clinic for diagnosis and treatment. Patients with active or latent tuberculosis are also treated. Everyone else is given SDR as prophylaxis for leprosy. GIS mapping of new patients means that the project will contribute to a clearer impression of the local transmission of both leprosy and tuberculosis. The effectiveness and acceptance of a combined approach will be clear by the end of the study, enabling the method to be applied in other countries where tuberculosis and leprosy are highly endemic. The Turing Foundation is contributing € 103,000 towards this project (of which, € 25,000 in 2022). The Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI) is contributing the same amount. See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  PLF/COMBINE: Leprosy elimination by community screening & mass chemoprophylaxis, Kiribati |
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Endgame strategy for leprosy in the Maldives: optimal targeting of post-exposure prophylaxis to interrupt transmission, Maldives, 2022
The Maldives want to become leprosy-free in the next decade: the aim is to break transmission of the disease (zero children diagnosed with leprosy; zero patients contracting the infection). An end-game strategy must be developed as part of this ambition. The generally recommended strategy is contact screening and prophylactic treatment of a patient's contacts with rifampicin (SDR). It is unclear what the best implementation strategy is in a low-endemic setting such as the Maldives and what, for example, the best target group is for prophylactic treatment (only close contacts or an entire population in a high-endemic cluster?) to break the transmission. Therefore, the research question of Erasmus MC is: 'What would be an optimal end-game strategy to break M. leprae transmission in a low-endemic setting?' The Turing Foundation is contributing € 24,400 towards this project. The Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI) is contributing the same amount. See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  Endgame strategy for leprosy in the Maldives: optimal targeting of post-exposure prophylaxis to interrupt transmission, Maldives |
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Contribution to the leprosy research department of Netherlands Leprosy Relief, 2021-2022
The Turing Foundation has been co-financing projects related to the fight against leprosy with Netherlands Leprosy Relief for years. On top of this, every year we donate 5% of the total sum of these donations directly to Netherlands Leprosy Relief as a contribution towards the overhead costs it incurs as a member of the Leprosy Research Initiative: the international partnership for financing leprosy research. In 2021 the Turing Foundation contributed a total of € 227,347 towards six studies into early diagnosis of leprosy. This means that our contribution towards Netherlands Leprosy Relief's overhead costs in 2021 has been set at € 11,367. See also: Leprastichting: other projects  M. Leprae bacteria |
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Point-of-care tests for leprosy in South America, 2021-2024
The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) team has developed a simple diagnostic test in previous studies. This point-of-care (POC) test uses a finger prick to determine whether and to what extent someone is infected with leprosy. The test can be performed by primary health care workers without complicated laboratory techniques. The LUMC is going to expand the use of the POC test to populations in Brazil and Bolivia, and investigate how the test functions in a Latin American population. The results will be compared with the previous studies in Bangladesh. This study builds on previous studies which received € 1,812,500 funding from the Turing Foundation. The Turing Foundation is contributing €152,742 towards this LUMC project (of which, €27,000 in 2021). The Leprosy Research Initiative is matching this contribution.
See also:
 Point-of-care tests for leprosy in South America, 2021-2024 |
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Molecular Methods in Subclinical Models of Leprosy to Test PEP, 2022
Whilst multi-drug therapy has been very successful in reducing the global prevalence of leprosy, new cases still occur. This indicates that leprosy transmission is still taking place despite effective treatment. Treating individuals known to have been exposed to leprosy, also known as post exposure prophylaxis (PEP), can reduce the number of subclinical infections and transmission of the disease. This study will evaluate different PEP treatments and provide experimental evidence on the level of effectiveness. The goal is to determine the most effective PEP treatment regardless of the host's level of immune functionality. This study by National Hansen's Disease Programs builds on a previous study by the same group, which also received funding from the Turing Foundation. The Turing Foundation is contributing €36,500 towards this NHDP project (of which, €11,500 in 2022). The Leprosy Research Initiative is matching this contribution.
See also:
 Molecular Methods in Subclinical Models of Leprosy to Test PEP |
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Dapsone Hypersensitivity Syndrome Biomolecular Predictive Test, Papua and Nepal, 2021
Leprosy is treated with a combination of three drugs: dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine. People with dapsone allergy develop what is called dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome (DHS). DHS is associated with skin disorders and organ failure, leading to the death of about 10% of DHS patients. The highest prevalence is found in east Asia. Earlier studies found a genetic mutation associated with a greatly increased risk of DHS. This study is investigating the use of a screening test which can determine whether someone has this genetic mutation. Leprosy patients who test positive will not be given dapsone, which will reduce the number of DHS cases. The Turing Foundation is contributing € 76,661 towards this project by the Microbiology Department, Institute of Health Research and Development, Papua (of which € 24,000 in 2021). The Leprosy Research Initiative is contributing an equal sum. See also: Leprosy Research Initiative: other projects  Dapsone Hypersensitivity Syndrome Biomolecular Predictive Test, Papua and Nepal |
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LepVax: safety and vaccin-induced immune response, Brazil, 2021
Researchers from the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), in collaboration with the America Leprosy Mission (ALM), have developed a leprosy specific vaccine called LepVax. This vaccine has both prophylactic properties (preventing leprosy) and immunotherapeutic properties (treating leprosy reactions). That means that LepVax should prevent further development of the disease, both deformities after infection and new infections. This study is focused on testing the safety of and immune response to LepVax. The project includes collaboration with a clinic for leprosy research in Brazil (FioCruz). The Turing Foundation has already contributed € 200,000 towards the earlier phases of this research, and is contributing € 175,000 towards this follow-up research (of which € 40,000 in 2021). The Leprosy Research Initiative is contributing an equal sum.
See also:
 LepVax: safety and vaccin-induced immune response, Brazil, 2019-2021 |
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Erasmus MC: Monitoring the effect of prophylactic interventions, Bangladesh, 2021
This sudy by Leiden University Medical Centre and Erasmus University Rotterdam is focused on determining the long-term effect of the BCG vaccination on leprosy patients. New blood samples and new biomarker profiles are being used for this purpose. The second aim of the study is to test the effect of the antibiotic rifampicin on preventing leprosy from developing in new leprosy patients' contacts. Blood will be taken from these contacts at different times with a finger prick over the course of the study. The third and final goal of the study is to introduce the test as part of the national leprosy programme and train health centre staff to perform the test. The Turing Foundation has contributed approximately € 1,700,000 towards IDEAL/INDIGO research in recent years, and is contributing more than € 112,500 towards this follow-up research in the period 2019-2021. The Leprosy Research Initiative is contributing an equal sum.
See also:
 Monitoring the effect of prophylactic interventions in contacts of leprosy patients including field-application of a novel immunodiagnostic test, Bangladesh |
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