Kaiglová Alžbeta, Hockicková Patrícia, Bárdyová Zuzana, Reháková Radka, Melnikov Kamila, Kucharíková Soňa
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Health Care and Social Work, Trnava University in Trnava, Univerzitné Námestie 1, 91843, Trnava, Slovakia.
Discov Oncol. 2024 Dec 20;15(1):817. doi: 10.1007/s12672-024-01721-7.
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, with its highly sensitive olfactory system, has emerged as a promising tool for testing chemotaxis. In the field of cancer diagnostics, there is a growing interest in the development of non-invasive screening methods for the detection of volatile organic compounds in a patient's urine. The objective of this study was to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by evaluating the ability of a Caenorhabditis elegans-based chemotaxis assay to discriminate between urine samples from healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with breast or colon cancer. Following synchronization of the developmental stages of C. elegans, nematodes were exposed to the urine of cancer patients and healthy individuals. Subsequently, chemotactic indices were calculated for each urine sample. Our results demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the chemotactic response of C. elegans to urine samples from cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the test demonstrated promising diagnostic utility, with a sensitivity of 96%, a specificity of 62%, and a detection rate of 73% among patients with breast cancer and a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 62%, and a detection rate of 72% among those with colon cancer. Our findings expand on previous observations, confirming the remarkable sensitivity of C. elegans hermaphrodites to discriminating cancer-related volatile organic compounds in urine samples.
线虫秀丽隐杆线虫凭借其高度敏感的嗅觉系统，已成为测试趋化性的一种有前景的工具。在癌症诊断领域，人们对开发用于检测患者尿液中挥发性有机化合物的非侵入性筛查方法的兴趣日益浓厚。本研究的目的是通过评估基于秀丽隐杆线虫的趋化性检测方法区分健康个体和被诊断患有乳腺癌或结肠癌患者尿液样本的能力，为现有知识体系做出贡献。在同步秀丽隐杆线虫的发育阶段后，将线虫暴露于癌症患者和健康个体的尿液中。随后，计算每个尿液样本的趋化指数。我们的结果表明，与健康志愿者相比，秀丽隐杆线虫对癌症患者尿液样本的趋化反应存在统计学上的显著差异（p < 0.001）。此外，该测试显示出有前景的诊断效用，在乳腺癌患者中灵敏度为96%，特异性为62%，检测率为73%；在结肠癌患者中灵敏度为100%，特异性为62%，检测率为72%。我们的研究结果扩展了先前的观察结果，证实了秀丽隐杆线虫雌雄同体对区分尿液样本中与癌症相关的挥发性有机化合物具有显著的敏感性。
