Department of Medical Biophysics, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
J Viral Hepat. 2022 Feb;29(2):147-155. doi: 10.1111/jvh.13630. Epub 2021 Nov 21.
Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver disease and transplantation and is a significant burden on public health worldwide. This study aimed to apply the Electronic Nose (E-Nose) and quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (MS/MS) technologies for screening blood samples from hepatitis C patients and healthy controls. We analysed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the headspace over blood samples to identify those VOCs characteristic for diagnosing hepatitis C patients. The study comprised 150 acute hepatitis C patients with age range: 24-59 years, and mean age ±SD: 41.5 ± 12.8 years and 150 age-matched healthy controls (age range: 24-51 and mean age: 40.11 ± 4.89 years) from the Hospital of the Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. Collected blood samples were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using the E-Nose and MS/MS techniques, respectively. Principal component analysis of the E-Nose 10-sensor responses accurately classified blood samples from hepatitis C patients and healthy controls. The first two principal components explained over 98.35% of the variance in signals with no false-positive (healthy controls) or false-negative (hepatitis C patients) results. MS/MS showed two fragmentation ions at m/z of 104 and 151 Da with the positive electrospray ionization mode (ESI+) in blood samples for hepatitis C patients, but not for healthy controls or background water samples. We identified the two specific fragmentation ions at m/z 104 and m/z 151 Da as malonic acid (MF: C H O ; MW: 104.06 g/mol) and monosaccharide pentose (MF: C H O ; MW: 150.13 g/mol) in VOCs of the headspace over blood samples for hepatitis C patients. This provides a rationale for developing diagnostic tests for hepatitis C virus based on altered trace VOCs concentrations using the relatively inexpensive, easy-to-use, portable and non-invasive E-Nose technology.
丙型肝炎是导致肝脏疾病和移植的主要原因，也是全球公共卫生的重大负担。本研究旨在应用电子鼻（E-Nose）和四极杆质谱（MS/MS）技术筛选丙型肝炎患者和健康对照者的血液样本。我们分析了血液样本上方的顶空挥发性有机化合物（VOC），以鉴定那些对诊断丙型肝炎患者具有特征性的 VOC。该研究包括来自埃及亚历山大大学医学研究所附属医院的 150 名急性丙型肝炎患者（年龄范围：24-59 岁，平均年龄±标准差：41.5±12.8 岁）和 150 名年龄匹配的健康对照者（年龄范围：24-51 岁，平均年龄：40.11±4.89 岁）。收集的血液样本分别使用 E-Nose 和 MS/MS 技术进行定性和定量分析。E-Nose 10 传感器响应的主成分分析准确地将丙型肝炎患者和健康对照者的血液样本分类。前两个主成分解释了信号中超过 98.35%的方差，没有假阳性（健康对照者）或假阴性（丙型肝炎患者）的结果。MS/MS 在丙型肝炎患者的血液样本中以正电喷雾电离模式（ESI+）显示两个碎片离子，质荷比（m/z）分别为 104 和 151 Da，但在健康对照者或背景水样中没有。我们鉴定了质荷比（m/z）为 104 和 151 Da 的两个特定碎片离子为丙型肝炎患者血液样本中头空 VOC 中的丙二酸（MF：C H O；MW：104.06 g/mol）和单糖戊糖（MF：C H O；MW：150.13 g/mol）。这为使用相对廉价、易于使用、便携且非侵入性的 E-Nose 技术，基于改变的痕量 VOC 浓度，为丙型肝炎病毒开发诊断测试提供了依据。
