RAPID CHEMOTAXONOMIC DIAGNOSIS OF HUMAN TUBERCULOSIS

65 different clinical specimens from patients suspected of being infec ted with Mycobacterium tuberculosis were examined by three different d iagnostic methods. Two of these methods were the conventional microsco pic and cultural examinations. The third, a modern chemotaxonomical me thod is based upon the detection of tuberculostearic acid by GC-MS ana lysis using selected ion monitoring (GC-MS/SIM). Comparison of the res ults of the GC-MS analysis with those of the conventional methods has indicated that tuberculostearic acid analysis can be used for diagnosi ng tuberculosis under diagnostic routine conditions. The CC-MS method is rapid, usually providing results within 20 hours or less.