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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.