Cholesteroid nature of free mycolic acids from M. tuberculosis.

Mycolic acids (MAs) are a major component of the cell walls of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related organisms. These alpha-alkyl beta-hydroxy long fatty acids have been the subject of numerous studies for their immunological properties. We previously reported that an interaction between cholesterol and mycolic acids could be responsible for the low accuracy in the serodiagnosis of TB when using free mycolic acid in an ELISA assay.

A novel application of affinity biosensor technology to detect antibodies to mycolic acid in tuberculosis patients.

Tuberculosis has re-emerged as a global health problem due to co-infection with HIV and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. HIV co-infection introduced a 30% underestimation in TB diagnosis based on sputum analysis, calling for a reliable and fast serodiagnostic assay to assist in the management of TB in HIV-burdened populations. Serodiagnosis with mycobacterial lipid cell wall antigens gave promising results, in particular with LAM and cord factor.