Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector for sweat based COVID-19 screening

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Infectious Disease Diagnostics

Background:

• Rapid and accurate screening for COVID-19 remains crucial for public health.
• Current diagnostic methods can be time-consuming or require specialized facilities.
• Identifying novel biomarkers and developing accessible screening techniques is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple and rapid screening method for COVID-19.
• To analyze volatile compounds in sweat for potential disease markers.
• To validate the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the developed method.

Main Methods:

• Utilized gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) to analyze sweat samples.
• Collected sweat samples using cotton rods and analyzed volatile compounds in the headspace.
• Identified p-cymene as a potential marker using GC-MS and GC×GC-MS analysis.
• Optimized marker peak thresholds using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Main Results:

• The developed method achieved 96% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in screening for COVID-19.
• P-cymene was identified as a potential volatile compound marker in sweat.
• The method's performance was not significantly affected by gender, BMI, age, or deodorant use.

Conclusions:

• A rapid and accurate GC-FID based screening method for COVID-19 using sweat analysis has been established.
• P-cymene in sweat is a promising biomarker for COVID-19 screening.
• This approach offers a potentially simple and cost-effective diagnostic tool for COVID-19.