Salivary Detection of Zika Virus Infection Using ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Coupled with Machine Learning Algorithms and Univariate Analysis: A Proof-of-Concept Animal Study

• Main Author: Oliveira, Stephanie Wutke
• Publication Date: 2023
• Other Authors: Cardoso-Sousa, Leia, Georjutti, Renata Pereira, Shimizu, Jacqueline Farinha [UNESP], Silva, Suely [UNESP], Caixeta, Douglas Carvalho, Guevara-Vega, Marco, Cunha, Thúlio Marquez, Carneiro, Murillo Guimarães, Goulart, Luiz Ricardo, Jardim, Ana Carolina Gomes [UNESP], Sabino-Silva, Robinson
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Download full: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13081443; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/247259
• topic: ATR-FTIR; diagnosis; mice; saliva; Zika virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) diagnosis is currently performed through an invasive, painful, and costly procedure using molecular biology. Consequently, the search for a non-invasive, more cost-effective, reagent-free, and sustainable method for ZIKV diagnosis is of great relevance. It is critical to prepare a global strategy for the next ZIKV outbreak given its devastating consequences, particularly in pregnant women. Attenuated total reflection–Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has been used to discriminate systemic diseases using saliva; however, the salivary diagnostic application in viral diseases is unknown. To test this hypothesis, we intradermally challenged interferon-gamma gene knockout C57/BL6 mice with ZIKV (50 µL,105 FFU, n = 7) or vehicle (50 µL, n = 8). Saliva samples were collected on day three (due to the peak of viremia) and the spleen was also harvested. Changes in the salivary spectral profile were analyzed by Student’s t test (p < 0.05), multivariate analysis, and the diagnostic capacity by ROC curve. ZIKV infection was confirmed by real-time PCR of the spleen sample. The infrared spectroscopy coupled with univariate analysis suggested the vibrational mode at 1547 cm−1 as a potential candidate to discriminate ZIKV and control salivary samples. Three PCs explained 93.2% of the cumulative variance in PCA analysis and the spectrochemical analysis with LDA achieved an accuracy of 93.3%, with a specificity of 87.5% and sensitivity of 100%. The LDA-SVM analysis showed 100% discrimination between both classes. Our results suggest that ATR-FTIR applied to saliva might have high accuracy in ZIKV diagnosis with potential as a non-invasive and cost-effective diagnostic tool.