[Lipidic constituents of "Mycobacterium leprae" isolated from experimentally infected armadillo (author's transl)]

Mycobacterium leprae (obtained from experimentally infected armadillo) was submitted to saponification. The liposoluble part was methylated and fractionated by chromatographic methods. Each fraction was studied by gas-liquid chromatography. Cholesterol (from the infected host) and the main fatty acids were identified. Mycolic acids were isolated, and their structures determined, using mass spectrometry. These structures are useful to make a comparison of M. leprae with some other mycobacteria. Some of these comparisons are discussed here. The absence-or, at least, the very low level-of tuberculostearate suggests comparative studies of M. leprae and M. gordonae.