THE NATURE OF THE MIDDLEBROOK-DUBOS HAEMAGGLUTINATION ANTIGEN OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS

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Abstract
As for the nature of the antigen of the Middlebrook-Dubos haemagglutination reaction. (M-D reaction) (Middlebrook and Dubos, 1949), reports have accumulated to point out that it is generally considered to be of polysaccharide nature. Boyden and collaborators (1956, 1957) reported that the antigen of the M-D reaction, α-haemosensitin, was present in heated and unheated culture filtrates of human type tubercle bacilli and it contained 90% of a polysaccharide. An active polysaccharide as the antigen could also be isolated from tubercle bacilli by Földes (1955, 1957) . At the present, the M-D antigen can be tentatively defined as such: (a) It is a polysaccharide component found in culture filtrates as well as in tubercle bacilli. (b) It is easily adsorbed onto the surface of red cells without any pretreatment. (c) Red cells coated with the antigen agglutinate in the presence of anti-mycobacterial sera. However, difficulties in the isolation and in the purification of the antigen prevent to characterize it with certainty chemically as well as serologically. The present attempt is directed, therefore, to isolate the antigen from human type tubercle bacilli, Aoyama B strain, and to purify it by means of zone electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation.

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