Ultrasensitive assay for saliva-based SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection

Autor: Annie Ren, Dorsa Sohaei, Antigona Ulndreaj, Oscar D. Pons-Belda, Amaia Fernandez-Uriarte, Ioannis Zacharioudakis, George B. Sigal, Martin Stengelin, Anu Mathew, Christopher Campbell, Nikhil Padmanabhan, Daniel Romero, Jessica Joe, Antoninus Soosaipillai, Vathany Kulasingam, Tony Mazzulli, Xinliu A. Li, Allison McGeer, Eleftherios P. Diamandis, Ioannis Prassas
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM). 60:771-777
ISSN: 1437-4331
1434-6621
DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2021-1142
Popis: Objectives Widespread SARS-CoV-2 testing is invaluable for identifying asymptomatic/pre-symptomatic individuals. There remains a technological gap for highly reliable, easy, and quick SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests suitable for frequent mass testing. Compared to nasopharyngeal (NP) swab-based tests, saliva-based methods are attractive due to easier and safer sampling. Current saliva-based SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs) are hindered by limited analytical sensitivity. Here, we report one of the first ultrasensitive, saliva-based SARS-CoV-2 antigen assays with an analytical sensitivity of Methods Using the novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-based immunoassay, we measured the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) antigen concentration in 105 salivas, obtained from non-COVID-19 and COVID-19 patients. We then verified the results with a second, independent cohort of 689 patients (3.8% SARS-CoV-2 positivity rate). We also compared our method with a widely used point-of-care rapid test. Results In the first cohort, at 100% specificity, the sensitivity was 92%. Our assay correctly identified samples with viral loads up to 35 CT cycles by saliva-based PCR. Paired NP swab-based PCR results were obtained for 86 cases. Our assay showed high concordance with saliva-based and NP swab-based PCR in samples with negative (2 pg/mL) N antigen concentrations. In the second cohort, at 100% specificity, sensitivity was also 92%. Our assay is about 700-fold more sensitive than the Abbott Panbio Rapid Test. Conclusions We demonstrated the ultrasensitivity and specificity assay and its concordance with PCR. This novel assay is especially valuable when compliance to frequent swabbing may be problematic.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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