Near full-automation of COPMAN using a LabDroid enables high-throughput and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater as a leading indicator.
Sci Total Environ
; 881: 163454, 2023 Jul 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2296293
ABSTRACT
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a promising tool to efficiently monitor COVID-19 prevalence in a community. For WBE community surveillance, automation of the viral RNA detection process is ideal. In the present study, we achieved near full-automation of a previously established method, COPMAN (COagulation and Proteolysis method using MAgnetic beads for detection of Nucleic acids in wastewater), which was then applied to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater for half a year. The automation line employed the Maholo LabDroid and an automated-pipetting device to achieve a high-throughput sample-processing capability of 576 samples per week. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was quantified with the automated COPMAN using samples collected from two wastewater treatment plants in the Sagami River basin in Japan between 1 November 2021 and 24 May 2022, when the numbers of daily reported COVID-19 cases ranged from 0 to 130.3 per 100,000 inhabitants. The automated COPMAN detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA from 81 out of 132 samples at concentrations of up to 2.8 × 105 copies/L. These concentrations showed direct correlations with subsequently reported clinical cases (5-13 days later), as determined by Pearson's and Spearman's cross-correlation analyses. To compare the results, we also conducted testing with the EPISENS-S (Efficient and Practical virus Identification System with ENhanced Sensitivity for Solids, Ando et al., 2022), a previously reported detection method. SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected with EPISENS-S correlated with clinical cases only when using Spearman's method. Our automated COPMAN was shown to be an efficient method for timely and large-scale monitoring of viral RNA, making WBE more feasible for community surveillance.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
RNA, Viral
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Total Environ
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.scitotenv.2023.163454
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