Mass spectrometry applied to diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targets identification for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: A review

Nerilson M Lima; Bruno L M Fernandes; Guilherme F Alves; Jéssica C Q de Souza; Marcelo M Siqueira; Maria Patrícia do Nascimento; Olívia B O Moreira; Alessandra Sussulini; Marcone A L de Oliveira

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2021.339385

Mass spectrometry applied to diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targets identification for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: A review

Anal Chim Acta. 2022 Feb 22:1195:339385. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2021.339385. Epub 2021 Dec 20.

Authors

Nerilson M Lima¹, Bruno L M Fernandes¹, Guilherme F Alves¹, Jéssica C Q de Souza¹, Marcelo M Siqueira¹, Maria Patrícia do Nascimento¹, Olívia B O Moreira², Alessandra Sussulini³, Marcone A L de Oliveira⁴

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, Institute of Exact Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, 36026-900, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil.
² Chemistry Department, Institute of Exact Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, 36026-900, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: olivia.brito@ice.ufjf.br.
³ Laboratory of Bioanalytics and Integrated Omics (LaBIOmics), Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil; National Institute of Science and Technology for Bioanalytics - INCTBio, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
⁴ Chemistry Department, Institute of Exact Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, 36026-900, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil; National Institute of Science and Technology for Bioanalytics - INCTBio, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: marcone.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br.

Abstract

Mass spectrometry (MS) has found numerous applications in medicine and has been widely used in the detection and characterization of biomolecules associated with viral infections such as COVID-19. COVID-19 is a multisystem disease and, therefore, the need arises to carry out a careful and conclusive assessment of the pathophysiological parameters involved in the infection, to develop an effective therapeutic approach, assess the prognosis of the disease, and especially the early diagnosis of the infected population. Thus, the urgent need for highly accurate methods of diagnosis and prognosis of this infection presents new challenges for the development of laboratory medicine, whose methods require sensitivity, speed, and accuracy of the techniques for analyzing the biological markers involved in the infection. In this context, MS stands out as a robust analytical tool, with high sensitivity and selectivity, accuracy, low turnaround time, and versatility for the analysis of biological samples. However, it has not yet been adopted as a frontline clinical laboratory technique. Therefore, this review explores the potential and trends of current MS methods and their contribution to the development of new strategies to COVID-19 diagnosis and prognosis and how this tool can assist in the discovery of new therapeutic targets, in addition, to comment what could be the future of MS in medicine.

Keywords: COVID-19; Diagnosis; Mass spectrometry; Prognosis; SARS-CoV-2; Therapeutic targets.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19*
Humans
Laboratories, Clinical
Mass Spectrometry
Prognosis
SARS-CoV-2*