A Study of in situ PCR in the Tissue Sections of Borderline Tuberculoid Leprosy without the Bacilli under the Fite Stain

In situ PCR was applied to the paraffin embedded tissue section of two borderline tuberculoid patients which did not show acid fast bacilli on the Fite stain. In situ PCR was performed with direct detection of Digoxigenin incorporated into PCR product. The best condition of the direct in situ PCR was pretreatment with 0.2N HCl for 40 minutes and with 10㎍/ml of proteinase K at 37℃ for 5 minutes and 30 cycles of PCR. The positive signal was observed within the cytoplasm of the most Schwann cells, epithelioid cells and a few endothelial cells.