Novel RT-PCR Using Sugar Chain-Immobilized Gold-Nanoparticles Correlates Patients' Symptoms: The Follow-Up Study of COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 14; no. 11; p. 2577
• Main Authors: Kajiya, Takashi, Sawayama, Hayate, Arima, Eriko, Okamoto, Mika, Baba, Masanori, Toyama, Masaaki, Okuya, Kosuke, Ozawa, Makoto, Atsuchi, Nobuhiko, Nishi, Junichiro, Suda, Yasuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Body temperature; Carbohydrates; Chemical properties; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; Dengue fever; Diagnosis; Disease transmission; extraction and partial purification of RNA; Follow-Up Studies; follow-up study; Gold; Hospital patients; Hospitalization; Humans; Medical examination; Metal Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles; Pandemics; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteins; Purification; quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR); Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Viral - analysis; RNA, Viral - genetics; Saliva; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sugar; sugar chain-immobilized gold nano-particle (SGNP); Sugars; Toxicity; Japan; SARS-CoV-2; quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR); extraction and partial purification of RNA; sugar chain-immobilized gold nano-particle (SGNP); follow-up study
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v14112577

The transmissible capacity and toxicity of SARS-CoV-2 variants are continually changing. We report here the follow-up study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients from 2020 to 2022. It is known that the PCR diagnosis for hospitalized patients sometimes causes confusion because of the incompatibility between their diagnosis and symptoms. We applied our sugar chain-immobilized gold-nanoparticles for the extraction and partial purification of RNA from specimens for quantitative RT-PCR assay and evaluated whether the results correlate with patients' symptoms. Saliva specimens were taken from hospitalized patients with mild or moderate symptoms every early morning. At the time of RT-PCR diagnosis, two methods for the extraction and partial purification of RNA from the specimen were performed: a commonly used Boom (Qiagen) method and our original sugar chain-immobilized gold nanoparticle (SGNP) method. For symptoms, body temperature and oxygen saturation (SpO ) of patients were monitored every 4 h. It was clear that patients infected with the Delta variant needed more time to recover than those with the Omicron variant, and that the SGNP method showed more realistic correlation with the symptoms of patients compared with the common Qiagen method.