Juul-Kristensen Trine, Thiesen Celine, Wulff Haurum Line, Keller Josephine Geertsen, Lendamba Romeo Wenceslas, Zoleko Manego Rella, Betouke Ongwe Madeleine Eunice, Knudsen Birgitta Ruth, Pareja Eduardo, Pareja-Tobes Eduardo, Labouriau Rodrigo, Mombo-Ngoma Ghyslain, Tesauro Cinzia
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Universitetsbyen 81, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Department of Biomedicine, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 10, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Sensors (Basel). 2024 Dec 12;24(24):7947. doi: 10.3390/s24247947.
Malaria poses a serious global health problem, with half the world population being at risk. Regular screening is crucial for breaking the transmission cycle and combatting the disease spreading. However, current diagnostic tools relying on blood samples face challenges in many malaria-epidemic areas. In the present study, we demonstrate the detection of the malaria-causing parasite in non-invasive saliva samples (N = 61) from infected individuals by combining a DNA-based Rolling-circle-Enhanced-Enzyme-Activity-Detection (REEAD) sensor system with a chemiluminescence readout that could be detected with an in-house-developed affordable and battery-powered portable reader. We successfully transferred the technology to sub-Saharan Africa, where the malaria burden is high, and demonstrated a proof of concept in a small study (N = 40) showing significant differences ( < 0.00001) between malaria-positive individuals (N = 33) and presumed asymptomatic negative individuals (N = 7) all collected in Gabon. This is the first successful application of the REEAD sensor system for the detection of malaria in saliva in a high-epidemic area and holds promise for the potential future use of REEAD for malaria diagnosis or surveillance based on non-invasive specimens in sub-Saharan Africa.
疟疾是一个严重的全球健康问题，世界一半人口面临风险。定期筛查对于打破传播循环和抗击疾病传播至关重要。然而，目前依赖血液样本的诊断工具在许多疟疾流行地区面临挑战。在本研究中，我们通过将基于DNA的滚环增强酶活性检测（REEAD）传感器系统与化学发光读数相结合，证明了在来自感染个体的非侵入性唾液样本（N = 61）中检测疟原虫，该化学发光读数可以用自行开发的经济实惠且由电池供电的便携式读数器进行检测。我们成功地将该技术转移到疟疾负担较重的撒哈拉以南非洲，并在一项小型研究（N = 40）中展示了概念验证，该研究显示在加蓬采集的所有疟疾阳性个体（N = 33）和假定无症状阴性个体（N = 7）之间存在显著差异（< 0.00001）。这是REEAD传感器系统首次在高流行地区成功应用于唾液中疟疾的检测，并有望在未来基于撒哈拉以南非洲非侵入性样本使用REEAD进行疟疾诊断或监测。
