Low-cost colorimetric diagnostic screening assay for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) 2021-04, Vol.225, p.121946-121946, Article 121946
• Main Authors: Raji, Muhabat Adeola, Chinnappan, Raja, Shibl, Atef, Suaifan, Ghadeer, Weber, Karina, Cialla-May, Dana, Popp, Jürgen, El Shorbagy, Enas, Al-Kattan, Khaled, Zourob, Mohammed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated cotton swabs; Biosensing Techniques; Colorimetry; Escherichia coli; Humans; Immunoassay; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MRSA rapid Detection; Optical biosensors; Sensitivity and Specificity; Staphylococcal Infections - diagnosis; Staphylococcus aureus
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121946

The timely diagnosis of MRSA in clinical samples helps to reduce the attendant morbidity/mortality associated with infection due to the organism. The early institution of appropriate therapy or deployment of infection control protocols are dependent on a timely report from the microbiology laboratory. Various assays currently used in the identification of MRSA are associated with inherent shortcomings, thus there is a need to explore newer diagnostic frontiers that can eliminate some of these short comings at a relatively cheap, timely, specific and sensitive manner. We present in this study a MRSA specific optical immunosensor to detect the presence of the pathogen on contaminated surface using control and patient strains. Results revealed a detection limits of 103 CFU mL-1 upon visual observation, and 29 CFU mL-1 as determined by the linear regression equation, following the use of ImageJ to quantify activated cotton swab color intensity. The specificity of the sensor was examined by blind testing a panel of non-MRSA bacteria (E. coli, S. aureus and S. epidermis). Negative visual read-out was observed for all tested non-specific bacteria except for MRSA. Assay takes an average of 5 min and presents a powerful point-of-care diagnostic platform for the detection of MRSA. [Display omitted] •MRSA specific optical immunosensor developed for the detection of MRSA on contaminated surface.•Results revealed a detection limit of 29 CFU mL−1 for MRSA.•The specificity of the sensor was examined by blind testing a panel of non-MRSA bacteria.•Assay takes an average of 5 minutes and present a powerful point-of-care diagnostic platform for the detection of MRSA.