Non-invasive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection and human transcriptome analysis using skin surface lipids

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 26057 - 8
• Main Authors: Kuwano, Tetsuya, Kanno, Takayuki, Tobiume, Minoru, Hirata, Yuichiro, Katano, Harutaka, Koga, Michiko, Nagai, Hiroyuki, Tsutsumi, Takeya, Yoshikawa, Noritada, Yotsuyanagi, Hiroshi, Kutsuna, Satoshi, Miyazato, Yusuke, Kinoshita-Iwamoto, Noriko, Ohmagari, Norio, Kobayashi, Taiichiro, Fukushima, Kazuaki, Tanaka, Masaru, Imamura, Akifumi, Ueda, Yui, Iwamura, Maeko, Takada, Naoto, Inoue, Takayoshi, Matano, Tetsuro, Kawana-Tachikawa, Ai, Suzuki, Tadaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 30.10.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/1647/2017; 631/1647/2230; 631/1647/514; 631/250/254; 692/53; Adult; Aged; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - genetics; COVID-19 - virology; Cytokines; DNA-directed RNA polymerase; Female; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Lipids; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Myxovirus resistance proteins; Myxovirus Resistance Proteins - genetics; Myxovirus Resistance Proteins - metabolism; Polymerase chain reaction; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Viral - genetics; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sebum; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Skin; Skin - metabolism; Skin - virology; Skin diseases; Skin surface lipid; Transcriptome; Transcriptomes; Ubiquitins - genetics; Ubiquitins - metabolism; COVID-19; Sebum; SARS-CoV-2; Skin; Skin surface lipid; Transcriptome
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-77862-0

There have been several reports of skin manifestations in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, it is unclear whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA can be detected on the skin surface, including the sebum, of these patients. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of skin surface lipids (SSLs) collected using an oil-blotting film from the faces of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Human transcriptome analysis was also performed using the same samples. In facial SSLs of patients with COVID-19, the RT-PCR positivity rate was 84.6% (11/13 samples) within 5 days and 30.4% (7/23 samples) by 6–10 days of symptom onset. In the transcriptome analysis, the most characteristic SSL-RNA profile was the upregulation of interferon-stimulated gene (ISG)-related genes, such as ISG15 , IFITM1 , and MX1 . This study presents an alternative technique using SSLs for non-invasive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection and simultaneous analysis of human molecular pathogenesis in patients with COVID-19.