Mycolic acid

[1] Despite their name, mycolic acids have no biological link to fungi; the name arises from the filamentous appearance their presence gives Mycobacteriales under high magnification.

The presence of mycolic acids in the cell wall also gives Mycobacteriales a distinct gross morphological trait known as "cording".

[2] Mycolic acids also allow the bacterium to grow inside macrophages, effectively hiding it from the host immune system.

By organic synthesis, the different homologues from the natural mixture could be obtained in pure form and tested for biological activity.

The exact structure of mycolic acids appears to be closely linked to the virulence of the organism, as modification of the functional groups of the molecule can lead to an attenuation of growth in vivo.

An international multi-centre study has proved that delamanid (OPC-67683), a new agent derived from the nitro-dihydro-imidazooxazole class of compounds that inhibits mycolic acid synthesis, can increase the rate of sputum culture conversion in multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) at 2 months.

[9] Most attention have been traditionally devoted to the mycolic acids of Mycobacterium species, which display great variation in length and modifications.