LC-MS/MS: A sensitive and selective analytical technique to detect COVID-19 protein biomarkers in the early disease stage

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The COVID-19 outbreak has put enormous pressure on the scientific community to detect infection rapidly, identify the status of disease severity, and provide an immediate vaccine/drug for the treatment. Relying on immunoassay and a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) led to many false-negative and false-positive reports. Therefore, detecting biomarkers is an alternative and reliable approach for determining the infection, its severity, and disease progression. Recent advances in liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) enable the protein biomarkers even at low concentrations, thus facilitating clinicians to monitor the treatment in hospitals.

Areas covered

This review highlights the role of LC-MS/MS in identifying protein biomarkers and discusses the clinically significant protein biomarkers such as Serum amyloid A, Interleukin-6, C-Reactive Protein, Lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, cardiac troponin, ferritin, Alanine transaminase, Aspartate transaminase, gelsolin and galectin-3-binding protein in COVID-19, and their analysis by LC-MS/MS in the early stage.

Expert opinion

Clinical doctors monitor significant biomarkers to understand, stratify, and treat patients according to disease severity. Knowledge of clinically significant COVID-19 protein biomarkers is critical not only for COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus but also to prepare us for future pandemics of other diseases in detecting by LC-MS/MS at the early stages.

KEYWORDS:

• Biomarkers
• COVID-19
• LC-MS/MS
• proteomics
• SARS-CoV-2

Article highlights

• Detailed pathophysiology of COVID-19

• Clinically significant protein biomarkers to detect COVID-19.

• Significance of identifying COVID-19 by LC-MS/MS over RT-PCR techniques.

• Sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS methods to detect protein biomarkers.

• Possibility of early detection of COVID-19 by LC-MS/MS.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, New Delhi, for the NIPER fellowship award. The manuscript bears the NIPER-Hyderabad communication number NIPERHYD/2022/56.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.