Development of a non-invasive method for skin cholesterol detection: pre-clinical assessment in atherosclerosis screening

• Published in: Biomedical engineering online 2021-06, Vol.20 (1), p.52-16, Article 52
• Main Authors: Ni, Jingshu, Hong, Haiou, Zhang, Yang, Tang, Shiqi, Han, Yongsheng, Fang, Zhaohui, Zhang, Yuanzhi, Zhou, Nan, Wang, Quanfu, Liu, Yong, Li, Zhongsheng, Wang, YiKun, Dong, Meili
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption spectra; Absorption spectroscopy; Accuracy; Adult; Aged; Analysis and chemistry; Animals; Arteriosclerosis; Asymptomatic; Atherosclerosis; Atherosclerosis - diagnosis; Atherosclerosis - metabolism; Atomic absorption spectroscopy; Blood; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cholesterol; Cholesterol - analysis; Cholesterol - metabolism; Chromatography; Concentration gradient; Confidence intervals; Coronary vessels; Diagnosis; Diagnosis, Noninvasive; Evaluation; Female; Gas chromatography; Humans; Male; Mass Screening - methods; Methods; Middle Aged; Non-invasive; Population; Reagents; Risk analysis; Risk assessment; Risk factors; ROC Curve; Sensors; Skin; Skin - chemistry; Skin - metabolism; Skin cholesterol; Skin diseases; Skin tests; Spectrum Analysis - methods; Subclinical atherosclerosis; Swine
• ISSN: 1475-925X; 1475-925X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12938-021-00889-1

Establishing a high-accuracy and non-invasive method is essential for evaluating cardiovascular disease. Skin cholesterol is a novel marker for assessing the risk of atherosclerosis and can be used as an independent risk factor of early assessment of atherosclerotic risk. We propose a non-invasive skin cholesterol detection method based on absorption spectroscopy. Detection reagents specifically bind to skin cholesterol and react with indicator to produce colored products, the skin cholesterol content can be obtained through absorption spectrum information on colored products detected by non-invasive technology. Gas chromatography is used to measure cholesterol extracted from the skin to verify the accuracy and reliability of the non-invasive test method. A total of 342 subjects were divided into normal group (n = 115), disease group (n = 110) and risk group (n = 117). All subjects underwent non-invasive skin cholesterol test. The diagnostic accuracy of the measured value was analyzed by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The proposed method is able to identify porcine skin containing gradient concentration of cholesterol. The values measured by non-invasive detection method were significantly correlated with gas chromatography measured results (r = 0.9074, n = 73, p