title: Circulating tuberculostearic acid in tuberculosis patients.
abstract: Tuberculostearic acid (TBSA), a mycobacterial cell wall constituent, was measured in plasma samples using a highly sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method. Plasma TBSA concentrations in patients with active tuberculosis (20 [0.5-347] nmol/l; n = 125) were higher than in patients with a variety of non-tuberculous pulmonary and extrapulmonary inflammatory conditions (0.1 [0-29] nmol/l; n = 116) and in healthy controls (0 [0-2] nmol/l; n = 102) (p = < 0.001). The calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for tuberculosis were 95.2%, 87.9%, 89.5% and 94.4%, respectively, indicating that assay of plasma TBSA might be a valuable complementary diagnostic tool.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital of Vienna, Austria. f.traunmueller@gmx.net
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Traunmüller
authors.forename: Markus Alexander
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Zeitlinger
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stoiser
authors.forename: Heimo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lagler
authors.forename: Haider Abdulla
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Abdel Salam
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Presterl
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Graninger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013229:Stearic Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013229:Stearic Acids; C026082:tuberculostearic acid