title: Medical Swab Analysis Using Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry: A Noninvasive Approach for Mucosal Diagnostics.
abstract: Medical swabs are routinely used worldwide to sample human mucosa for microbiological screening with culture methods. These are usually time-consuming and have a narrow focus on screening for particular microorganism species. As an alternative, direct mass spectrometric profiling of the mucosal metabolome provides a broader window into the mucosal ecosystem. We present for the first time a minimal effort/minimal-disruption technique for augmenting the information obtained from clinical swab analysis with mucosal metabolome profiling using desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) analysis. Ionization of mucosal biomass occurs directly from a standard rayon swab mounted on a rotating device and analyzed by DESI MS using an optimized protocol considering swab-inlet geometry, tip-sample angles and distances, rotation speeds, and reproducibility. Multivariate modeling of mass spectral fingerprints obtained in this way readily discriminate between different mucosal surfaces and display the ability to characterize biochemical alterations induced by pregnancy and bacterial vaginosis (BV). The method was also applied directly to bacterial biomass to confirm the ability to detect intact bacterial species from a swab. These results highlight the potential of direct swab analysis by DESI-MS for a wide range of clinical applications including rapid mucosal diagnostics for microbiology, immune responses, and biochemistry.
authors.affiliation: Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8012-7922
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pruski
authors.affiliation: Imperial College Parturition Research Group, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London , London, W12 0NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: MacIntyre
authors.affiliation: Imperial College Parturition Research Group, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London , London, W12 0NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Holly V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Inglese
authors.affiliation: Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gonçalo D S
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8271-9294
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: Imperial Clinical Respiratory Research Unit (ICRRU), St Mary's Hospital, Mint Wing, Imperial College London , London, W2 INY, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Trevor T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Hansel
authors.affiliation: Imperial College Parturition Research Group, Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London , London, W12 0NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Phillip R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0556-8389
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0795-3467
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Takats
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055442:Metabolome; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*