Odham G, Larsson L, Mårdh P A
J Clin Invest. 1979 May;63(5):813-9. doi: 10.1172/JCI109380.
Selected ion monitoring was used to detect tuberculostearic acid (10-methyloctadecanoic acid) in sputum from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The specimens were autoclaved, lyophilized, extracted, and methanolysed before being subjected to thin-layer chromatography and injected into the gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. Tuberculostearic acid could be detected in five of six tuberculous sputum specimens containing acid-fast rods detectable by light microscopy of Ziehl-Neelsen stained smears. After the sputum specimens had been cultured for five days on Löwenstein-Jensen medium, when still no colonies could be observed visually, the presence of tuberculostearic acid was demonstrated in all six cases of tuberculosis. In corresponding analyses of sputum from eight patients with non-tuberculous pneumonia, tuberculostearic acid was not found. This fatty acid, the presence of which was also demonstrated in cultures of various mycobacterial and nocardial species, is characteristic of organisms of the order Actinomycetales. The demonstration of tuberculostearic acid in sputum specimens may constitute a rapid and sensitive way of diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis.
采用选择离子监测法检测肺结核患者痰液中的结核硬脂酸（10-甲基十八烷酸）。标本经高压灭菌、冻干、提取和甲醇分解后，进行薄层色谱分析，然后注入气相色谱仪/质谱仪。在6份经萋-尼染色涂片光学显微镜检查可检测到抗酸杆菌的结核痰液标本中，有5份能检测到结核硬脂酸。痰液标本在罗-琴培养基上培养5天后，肉眼仍未观察到菌落，但在所有6例肺结核病例中均证实存在结核硬脂酸。在对8例非结核性肺炎患者痰液的相应分析中，未发现结核硬脂酸。这种脂肪酸在各种分枝杆菌和诺卡氏菌属的培养物中也有发现，是放线菌目的特征。在痰液标本中检测到结核硬脂酸可能是一种快速、灵敏的诊断肺结核的方法。
