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The science behind the nose: correlating volatile organic compound characterisation with canine biodetection of COVID-19

Authors :
Marthe Charles
Dorota Ruszkiewicz
Eric Eckbo
Elizabeth Bryce
Teresa Zurberg
Austin Meister
Lâle Aksu
Leonardo Navas
Renelle Myers
Source :
ERJ Open Research, Vol 10, Iss 3 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
European Respiratory Society, 2024.

Abstract

Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic stimulated the advancement and research in the field of canine scent detection of COVID-19 and volatile organic compound (VOC) breath sampling. It remains unclear which VOCs are associated with positive canine alerts. This study aimed to confirm that the training aids used for COVID-19 canine scent detection were indeed releasing discriminant COVID-19 VOCs detectable and identifiable by gas chromatography (GC-MS). Methods Inexperienced dogs (two Labradors and one English Springer Spaniel) were trained over 19 weeks to discriminate between COVID-19 infected and uninfected individuals and then independently validated. Getxent tubes, impregnated with the odours from clinical gargle samples, used during the canines’ maintenance training process were also analysed using GC-MS. Results Three dogs were successfully trained to detect COVID-19. A principal components analysis model was created and confirmed the ability to discriminate between VOCs from positive and negative COVID-19 Getxent tubes with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 77%. Two VOCs were found to be very predictive of positive COVID-19 cases. When comparing the dogs with GC-MS, F1 and Matthew's correlation coefficient, correlation scores of 0.69 and 0.37 were observed, respectively, demonstrating good concordance between the two methods. Interpretation This study provides analytical confirmation that canine training aids can be safely and reliably produced with good discrimination between positive samples and negative controls. It is also a further step towards better understanding of canine odour discrimination of COVID-19 as the scent of interest and defining what VOC elements the canines interpret as “essential”.

Subjects

Subjects :
Medicine

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23120541
Volume :
10
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
ERJ Open Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.8f75d81e5d87447d814a4c255fd6f893
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00007-2024