Could leprosy reaction episodes be exacerbated by oral infections?

introduction: this study evaluated whether leprosy reactions could be associated with oral infection. methods: leprosy patients (n = 38) with (group i) and without (group ii) oral infections were selected. reactions were identified from the clinical and histopathological features associated with serum c-reactive protein (crp) and10kda interferon-gamma-induced protein (ip-10) levels, determined before and after elimination of the foci of infection. results: group i presented more reactions than group ii did, and improvement of the reactions after dental treatment. serum crp and ip-10 did not differ before and after the dental treatment, but differed between the groups. conclusions: oral infection could be an exacerbating factor in leprosy reactions.