Abstract
Mycobacterial O-acyltrehaloses have been described as highly specific and sensitive reagents for tuberculosis immunodiagnosis. An O-acyltrehalose-containing lipid fraction from the rapidly growing Mycobacterium fortuitum was found to include additional antigens, which presented high cross-reactivity with sera from tuberculosis-infected patients. Based on a combination of selective chemical degradations, thin-layer-chromatography analyses and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the antigenic by-product was identified as 6,6′-dimycoloyl trehalose, the so-called cord factor. The lipid was purified and tested in ELISA for pulmonary tuberculosis serodiagnosis. Sensitivity and specificity of the test were found to be 66.6–74.1% and 95.2–99.0%, respectively, showing a slightly higher efficiency as compared to the ELISA performed using 6,6′-dimycoloyl trehalose from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. No cross-reactivity was found with sera from Nocardia-infected individuals.
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