The correlation of Mycolic acid production by a toluene degrading Mycobacterium in the presence of cholesterol

Cell wall mycolic acids (MA) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis are presented as antigens that can be used to detect antibodies as surrogate markers of active Tuberculosis (TB) disease، even in HIV coinfected patients. The use of the complex mixtures of natural MA is complicated by apparent antibody cross-reactivity with cholesterol. Mycolic acid is not only related to diagnosis of TB disease but also similar structure of mycolic acid in saprophyte strains are excellent candidate for drug delivery especially for nasal spray. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of cholesterol on mycolic acid synthesis and potential of saprophyte mycolic acid to drug delivery. Materials and method s: Toluene enrichment medium was used for isolation of mycolic acid producing bacteria. A fast growing، acid fast bacterium was identified by PCR reaction and the related sequence of 16S rRNA gene was deposited in the NCBI Genbank with accession number jn64433. Production of mycolic acid was investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in different media. Here the effect of cholesterol on biosynthesis of mycolic acids by saprophyte Mycobacterium isolated from marine water is was reported. HPLC analyses showed the mycolic acid extracted from saprophyte. Mycobacterium had one، early، cluster of peaks، like Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mobacterium bovis. This strain is a fast growing bacterium and cholesterol might promote longer fatty acid production. Discussion and The similarity between mycolic acid from isolated and patogenic mycobacteria offers that mycolic acid obtained from saprophyte Mycobacterium can be useful as a drug carrier. Addition of egg yolk to media induced longer fatty acid production by isolating that is suitable for delivery of drugs into the macrophage.