A comparative serological study of antigenic glycolipids from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Two fractions of antigenic diacyl trehaloses (DAT1 and DAT2) were isolated from the type strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv). Phenolic glycolipid (PGL) and polar glycolipid antigens (C1-C4) were isolated from an unusual smooth so-called 'Canetti' strain of M. tuberculosis. These lipids were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using antisera against a range of mycobacteria and sera from 50 tuberculosis patients and 25 healthy blood donors. All the lipids gave strong reactions with homologous mycobacterial antisera, except the least polar 'Canetti' polar glycolipid (C4). The phenolic glycolipid (PGL) from the 'Canetti' strain gave only a very weak response with antisera against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. The diacyl trehaloses (DAT) from H37Rv gave only weak reactions with the antisera against the 2 Canetti strains of M. tuberculosis. The 3 most polar glycolipid antigens (C1-C3) from the Canetti strain gave strong responses with serum against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. None of the lipids was able to discriminate between patient and control sera at a level suitable for a serodiagnostic test. A combination of results from several lipids appears to be of greater value in this respect. Thus, PGL, DAT2 and C2 were the best combination, reacting with all but 4 of the patient sera and with only 1 of the control sera.