DNA was extracted from dermal smear samples and biopsies (nerve and overlying skin) and detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) primer/probe assay targeting the M. leprae species-specific genomic region (RLEP3) (14 (link)). The reactions were performed on the ABI7300 platform (Applied Biosystems) and the result was analyzed using the 7,300 System SDS Software vs. 1.4.
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