細菌細胞壁成分による炎症類上皮細胞肉芽腫な中心に (前編)

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Muramyl dipeptide (MDP) of bacterial cell walls, a minimal structure responsible for their adjuvant activity, was found to induce massive epithelioid granulomas indistinguishable from those induced by tubercle bacilli in rats, guinea pigs and rabbits, when injected incorporated in a water in-oil emulsion. MDP was stronger than tubercle bacilli in granulomageneicity. Conjugates of MDP with branched chain fatty acids, but not with a linear chain fatty acid, were capable of evoking granulomas. Peptidoglycan fragments of S. epidermidis incorporated into the water-in-oil emulsion became granulomagenic. On the basis of these findings I propose that an essential structure in tubercle bacilli responsible for epithelioid granuloma formation is probably the conjugated form of branched chain fatty acids (mycolic acid) and MDP, a structure found uniquely in wax D or cell walls of tubercle bacilli. The formation of MDP-induced epithelioid granuloma was found not to require allergic reactions but require macrophage activation. These findings may contribute to our understanding of epithelioid granuloma in general.
日本結核病学会の論文