The Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University There are two routes by which now therapeutics for leprosy may be discovered. One is the application of chemotherapeutic agents for tuberculosis in clinical use at the present to leprosy and the other is the experimental use of murine leprosy.
I have conducted studies on chemotherapeutics for leprosy since 1942, using murine leprosy. At first, it was believed that agents which were effective in murine leprosy would also have an effect in leprosy as in the case of chaulmoogra oil which is quite effective in both human and murine leprosy. Recently it has become more and more clear, however, that this does not necessarily hold true and agents may differ in their action between human and murine leprosy. Studies on other aspects, especially the biological reactions have also revealed many points of differences between human and murine leprosy. It has become apparent that to conduct murine leprosy experiments for the purpose of seeking an anology with leprosy is mistaken.
A review of the studies of other investigators fails to show an agent with a superior effect in both human and murine leprosy and even in regards to the same agent the results are contradictory, some investigators reporting satisfactory effects while others report that it is ineffective and it is difficult to decide which is correct. Detailed studies have not been conducted on clinical value in regards to the experimental data obtained in murine leprosy, in the chemotherapy of leprosy and as cultivation and inoculation in animals of the leprosy bacillus are not yet possible, the majority of the investigators merely resort to making suggestions as to the possible effect of these methods.
Some investigators state that if the chemotherapeutics for murine leprosy cannot be directly tied to and applied in leprosy, this experiment would be useless to pursue but I believe that if an agent can be discovered which is effective in both murine and human leprosy, this can serve as a basis for investigating the mechanism of the drug, make possible other related experiments indirectly and otherwise open the way for clinical utilization.
In order to utilize murine leprosy for the discovery of chemotherapeutic agents for leprosy, the first problem is to find chemotherapeutics which would have an effect both in murine and human leprosy. It is therefore necessary to collect as many agents as possible which are effective towards murine leprosy. A screening method was devised according to a set standard in order to classify the various agents which have been synthesized or extracted by the chemists in a short time as possible.
The above is a rough outline of the investigation and the procedures and speculations arepresented in the following order.
I. Bacteriological aspect of murine and human leprosy
II. Difference between murine and human leprosy from the viewpoint of biological reaction
III. Effect of chemotherapeutics in murine leprosy
IV. Relationship between tuberculosis, human leprosy and murine leprosy from the standpoint of effect of therapeutic agents
V. The role of murine leprosy in the chemotherapy of leprosy
VI. Standard for the screening test

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