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Scientists Can Now Detect Antibiotics In Your Fingerprints – Aiding The Fight Against Drug-resistant TB
A fingerprint may soon be all a doctor needs to check whether tuberculosis patients are taking their antibiotics – thanks to a new study led by the University of Surrey.
Scientists successfully detected the drugs in finger sweat – and with almost the same accuracy as a blood test.
Professor Melanie Bailey, an analytical chemist and co-author of the study from the University of Surrey, said:
"Up until now, blood tests have been the gold standard for detecting drugs in somebody's system.
"Now we can get results that are almost as accurate through the sweat in somebody's fingerprint. That means we can monitor treatment for diseases like tuberculosis in a much less invasive way."
Curable tuberculosis (TB) is treated with antibiotics. If patients don't stick to their full course, the treatment might not work, leading to drug-resistant TB instead.
Scientists wanted to know when was best to test, and whether they could tell how much medication the patient had taken.
To do so, they tested ten TB patients at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), in the Netherlands.
Dr Onno Akkerman, a pulmonary physician with focus on tuberculosis from the UMCG said:
"It was very simple to collect our samples. We asked patients to wash their hands, put on a nitrile glove to induce sweating, and then press their fingertips onto a paper square.
"Finger sweat can be collected without any specialist training. Unlike blood, it isn't a biohazard, so can be transported and stored much more easily.
"We're looking forward to working with Surrey to detect other TB drugs using this promising technique."
The samples were shipped to Surrey's Ion Beam Centre and they were analysed using mass spectrometry – which breaks the sample down to see what it is made of.
Scientists detected antibiotics in finger sweat with 96% accuracy. The metabolite, produced by actually ingesting the drug, showed up with 77% accuracy.
The drug itself was present between one and four hours after ingestion, while a metabolised version showed up best after six hours.
Dr Katie Longman, co-author of the study from the University of Surrey, explained:
"Doctors need to check whether tuberculosis patients are taking their antibiotics. It's much quicker and more convenient to do that using fingerprints rather than taking blood.
"This could ease the time pressure on a busy health service and offer patients a more comfortable solution.
"For some patients, like babies, blood tests are not feasible or desirable – so techniques like this one could be really useful."
The study is published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
ENDS
JournalInternational Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
Method of ResearchExperimental study
Subject of ResearchHuman tissue samples
Article TitleMeasurement of isoniazid in tuberculosis patients using finger sweat with creatinine normalisation – a controlled administration study
Article Publication Date25-Jun-2024
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! Are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! By contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
New Fingerprint Test Could Ensure TB Patients Are Taking Their Antibiotics
Scientists can now detect antibiotics in your fingerprints – aiding the fight against drug-resistant TB.
A fingerprint may soon be all a doctor needs to check whether tuberculosis patients are taking their antibiotics – thanks to a new study led by the University of Surrey.
Scientists successfully detected the drugs in finger sweat – and with almost the same accuracy as a blood test.
Professor Melanie Bailey, an analytical chemist and co-author of the study from the University of Surrey, said:
"Up until now, blood tests have been the gold standard for detecting drugs in somebody's system.
"Now we can get results that are almost as accurate through the sweat in somebody's fingerprint. That means we can monitor treatment for diseases like tuberculosis in a much less invasive way."
Curable tuberculosis (TB) is treated with antibiotics. If patients don't stick to their full course, the treatment might not work, leading to drug-resistant TB instead.
Scientists wanted to know when was best to test, and whether they could tell how much medication the patient had taken.
To do so, they tested ten TB patients at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), in the Netherlands.
Dr Onno Akkerman, a pulmonary physician with focus on tuberculosis from the UMCG said:
"It was very simple to collect our samples. We asked patients to wash their hands, put on a nitrile glove to induce sweating, and then press their fingertips onto a paper square.
"Finger sweat can be collected without any specialist training. Unlike blood, it isn't a biohazard, so can be transported and stored much more easily.
"We're looking forward to working with Surrey to detect other TB drugs using this promising technique."
The samples were shipped to Surrey's Ion Beam Centre and they were analyzed using mass spectrometry – which breaks the sample down to see what it is made of.
Scientists detected antibiotics in finger sweat with 96% accuracy. The metabolite, produced by actually ingesting the drug, showed up with 77% accuracy.
The drug itself was present between one and four hours after ingestion, while a metabolized version showed up best after six hours.
Doctors need to check whether tuberculosis patients are taking their antibiotics. It's much quicker and more convenient to do that using fingerprints rather than taking blood.
This could ease the time pressure on a busy health service and offer patients a more comfortable solution.
For some patients, like babies, blood tests are not feasible or desirable – so techniques like this one could be really useful."
Dr Katie Longman, Study co-author, University of Surrey
The study is published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
Tuberculosis Triggered Giant, Crusty Wart To Sprout On Man's Hand
The man's wart was caused by a rare form of tuberculosis that affects the skin. Pictured above is a computer illustration of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. .Credit: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty images
In a rare case, a man developed a crusty, giant yellow wart on his hand that was caused by tuberculosis (TB).
The 59-year-old, from China, had been suffering from the pain emanating from his wart for about a year before visiting a dermatology clinic.
There, doctors examined the wart, which covered the top of the patient's right hand and part of his right index finger. The clinicians described the growth as having an overlying "thick yellow-brown crusting." The man had no other symptoms besides the physical changes on his hand and the associated pain, according to a report of his case, published June 12 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The doctors then took a tissue sample and analyzed it under the microscope, noticing that skin cells from the wart were growing thick and fast and large lumps of cells had formed within the middle layer, or dermis, of the skin.
Related: Woman's 'extra breast' under her armpit developed a wart-like tumor in unusual case
These lumps were tuberculoid granulomas, or clusters of immune cells that form to corral the bacterium that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These granulomas surround and attack the pathogen, triggering inflammation. Tuberculoid granulomas are a defining feature of TB and represent the body's attempt to thwart the infection.
Doctors analyzed DNA within the patient's wart sample and confirmed the presence of M. Tuberculosis. The tissue also tested positive on a major test for TB — the interferon-γ release assay — which looks for a protein produced by the immune system in response to M. Tuberculosis.
TB is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide, having killed 1.3 million people worldwide in 2022. Most often, the disease affects the lungs and is spread between humans when an infected person coughs or sneezes M. Tuberculosis spores and another person inhales them.
In this case, the man didn't have TB in his lungs, as shown on a computed tomography (CT) scan of his chest. Instead, he had a rarer form of TB known as extrapulmonary TB, which affects other organs in the body and accounts for an estimated 20% of TB cases.
Image 1 of 2
Image with a blurred background and bold black text on top. The text reads
Image 2 of 2
On the left-hand-side of the image is a close-up of the yellow-brown wart growing on the man's right hand. On the right-hand side of the image is a close-up of the crusty wart developing on his right index finger.
Rarer still, the man turned out to be one of the 1.5% of patients with extrapulmonary TB whose infection specifically affects the skin. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis verrucosa cutis, which can happen when M. Tuberculosis enters the skin of someone who has been previously infected. The bacteria typically get in through an open wound or abrasion in the skin.
Patients with tuberculosis verrucosa cutis characteristically develop warty plaques at the site of infection, usually on their hands, knees or ankles. The condition is sometimes referred to as "prosector's wart," because of its historical connotations with people who worked in autopsy rooms.
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The authors of the new case report didn't discuss how the man might have been infected. However, they noted that he was a veterinarian, which could be a possible risk factor. You're more likely to catch TB if exposure to mycobacteria comes as part of your job; frequent contact with livestock is a risk factor, for instance.
Just like TB that affects the lungs, tuberculosis verrucosa cutis is treated with antibiotics to clear the infection. The man was prescribed a six-month course of these drugs, and within two months, his wart had "abated," the doctors reported. Tuberculosis is highly curable, but treatment generally requires patients to take antibiotics for around six months.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.
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