Tumor necrosis factor inducing substance derived from acid-fast bacteria

A substantially pure amphipathic substance having TNF inducing activity, said substance being essentially free of glycerol, hydroxy fatty acid and muramic acid, and having the following chemical composition:

• ______________________________________ hexose 0.25-0.55 mg/mg pentose 0.10-0.17 mg/mg fatty acid 0.03-0.16 mg/mg amino acid 0.07-0.17 mg/mg amino sugar <0.03 mg/mg organic phosphorus 0.3-1.7 mole/mg, ______________________________________
• wherein the greater part of the hexose comprises mannose, the greater part of the pentose comprises arabinose, the principal components of the fatty acid comprise palmitic acid, stearic acid and tuberculostearic acid, the chief amino acids comprise glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine, threonine, glycine, alanine, serine and valine, and the greater part of the amino sugar comprises glucosamine.

A method of inducing TNF production in humans, comprising the step of:

• administering 0.1 mg/day, to a human, of an amphipathic substance obtained by extraction into aqueous phase from an acid-fast bacterium selected from the group consisting of genus Mycobacterium, genus Nocardia, genus Rhodococcus, genus Gordona and genus Corneybacterium, said amphipathic substance comprising hexose as a predominant component, as well as lesser amounts of pentose, fatty acid and amino acid, said amphipathic substance having 0.3-1.7 .mu.moles organic phosphorus/mg total weight and said amphipathic substance being essentially free of glycerol and essentially free of hydroxy fatty acid.