On the presence of arabinose in mycobacterial and related species

Whole body hydrolysis and chromatography of nine mycobacterial microorganisms showed a qualitatively identical sugar composition in all the mycobacterial species and a different and more variable pattern in the non-mycobacterial strains. Arabinose, a sugar only present in the mycobacterial species, may be part of structures (arabinomannas or arabinogalactans) in the mycobacterial walls of some species that account for their great resistance to digestion within phagocytic cells. Arabinose containing polymers may also participate is suppressing the host immune response to the infecting microorganism. Some evidence of mycobacterial-induced inhibition of antigen-triggered ³H thymidine incorporation by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells has been reported in tuberculosis and leprosy.