Saliva has recently been proposed as a suitable specimen for the diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Use of saliva as a diagnostic specimen may present opportunities for SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing in remote and low-resource settings. Determining the stability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in saliva over time is an important step in determining optimal storage and transport times. We undertook an in vitro study to assess whether SARS-CoV-2 could be detected in contrived saliva samples. The contrived saliva samples comprised 10 ml pooled saliva spiked with gamma-irradiated SARS-CoV-2 to achieve a concentration of 2.58×10 4 copies ml SARS-CoV-2, which was subsequently divided into 2 ml aliquots comprising: (i) neat saliva; and a 1 : 1 dilution with (ii) normal saline; (iii) viral transport media, and (iv) liquid Amies medium. Contrived samples were made in quadruplicate, with two samples of each stored at either: (i) room temperature or (ii) 4 °C. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in all SARS-CoV-2 spiked samples at time point 0, day 1, 3 and 7 at both storage temperatures using the N gene RT-PCR assay and time point 0, day 1 and day 7 using the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, USA) RT-PCR assay. The ability to detect SARS-CoV-2 in saliva over a 1 week period is an important finding that presents further opportunities for saliva testing as a diagnostic specimen for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Saliva, molecular microbiology, 【초록키워드】 Saliva, coronavirus, diagnostic, Diagnosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, polymerase chain reaction, stability, Viral, temperature, reverse transcription, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, viral transport media, Cepheid, respiratory, N gene, USA, RT-PCR assay, Concentration, Dilution, Chain Reaction, room temperature, normal saline, Transport, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, medium, specimen, PCR assay, in vitro study, polymerase chain, detect, Determining, Amy, diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 detection, Transport, specimen, implication,