| Autor: |
Welearegay TG; MINOS-EMaS, Department of Electronics, Electrical and Automatic Engineering , Rovira i Virgili University , Tarragona 43007 , Spain., Diouani MF; Institut Pasteur de Tunis, LR11IPT03, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Veterinary Microbiology (LEMV), University Tunis El Manar , Tunis-Belvédère 1002 , Tunisia., Österlund L; Molecular Fingerprint AB Sweden , Uppsala 75655 , Sweden.; The Ångström Laboratory, Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Engineering Sciences , Uppsala University , Uppsala 75121 , Sweden., Ionescu F; MINOS-EMaS, Department of Electronics, Electrical and Automatic Engineering , Rovira i Virgili University , Tarragona 43007 , Spain., Belgacem K; Institut Pasteur de Tunis, LR11IPT03, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Veterinary Microbiology (LEMV), University Tunis El Manar , Tunis-Belvédère 1002 , Tunisia., Smadhi H; Ibn Nafis Pneumology Department , Abderrahman Mami Hospital , Ariana 2080 , Tunisia., Khaled S; Parasitology-Mycology Laboratory , Charles Nicolle Hospital , Rue 9 Avril 1938 , Tunis 1006 , Tunisia., Kidar A; Regional Hospital Houssine Bouzaiene of Gafsa , Gafsa Douali 2100 , Tunisia., Cindemir U; Molecular Fingerprint AB Sweden , Uppsala 75655 , Sweden.; The Ångström Laboratory, Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Engineering Sciences , Uppsala University , Uppsala 75121 , Sweden., Laouini D; Institut Pasteur de Tunis, LR11IPT02, Laboratory of Transmission, Control and Immunobiology of Infections (LTCII) , University Tunis El Manar , Tunis-Belvédère 1002 , Tunisia., Ionescu R; MINOS-EMaS, Department of Electronics, Electrical and Automatic Engineering , Rovira i Virgili University , Tarragona 43007 , Spain.; The Ångström Laboratory, Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Engineering Sciences , Uppsala University , Uppsala 75121 , Sweden. |
| Abstrakt: |
Human cutaneous leishmaniasis, although designated as one of the most neglected tropical diseases, remains underestimated due to its misdiagnosis. The diagnosis is mainly based on the microscopic detection of amastigote forms, isolation of the parasite, or the detection of Leishmania DNA, in addition to its differential clinical characterization; these tools are not always available in routine daily practice, and they are expensive and time-consuming. Here, we present a simple-to-use, noninvasive approach for human cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosis, which is based on the analysis of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath with an array of specifically designed chemical gas sensors. The study was realized on a group of n = 28 volunteers diagnosed with human cutaneous leishmaniasis and a group of n = 32 healthy controls, recruited in various sites from Tunisia, an endemic country of the disease. The classification success rate of human cutaneous leishmaniasis patients achieved by our sensors test was 98.2% accuracy, 96.4% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. Remarkably, one of the sensors, based on CuNPs functionalized with 2-mercaptobenzoxazole, yielded 100% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and 100% specificity for human cutaneous leishmaniasis discrimination. While AuNPs have been the most extensively used in metal nanoparticle-ligand sensing films for breath sensing, our results demonstrate that chemical sensors based on ligand-capped CuNPs also hold great potential for breath volatile organic compounds detection. Additionally, the chemical analysis of the breath samples with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry identified nine putative breath biomarkers for human cutaneous leishmaniasis. |
