Lipoarabinomannan, a possible virulence factor involved in persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within macrophages.

ABSTRACT

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agents of tuberculosis and leprosy, respectively, produce large quantities of lipoarabinomannan (LAM), a highly immunogenic, cell wall-associated glycolipid. This molecule has been previously reported to be a potent inhibitor of gamma interferon-mediated activation of murine macrophages. Studies of the mechanism by which this mycobacterial glycolipid down-regulates macrophage effector functions provide evidence that LAM acts at several levels and that it can (i) scavenge potentially cytotoxic oxygen free radicals, (ii) inhibit protein kinase C activity, and (iii) block the transcriptional activation of gamma interferon-inducible genes in human macrophage-like cell lines. These results suggest that LAM can inhibit macrophage activation and triggering and cytocidal activity and that it may represent a chemically defined virulence factor contributing to the persistence of mycobacteria within mononuclear phagocytes.