Lectin Analysis of SARS-CoV-2-Positive Nasopharyngeal Samples Using GLYcoPROFILE ® Technology Platform.

Nasopharyngeal samples are currently accepted as the standard diagnostic samples for nucleic acid amplification testing and antigenic testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In addition to the diagnostic capacity of SARS-CoV-2-positive crude nasopharyngeal samples, their qualitative potential for direct glycan-specific analysis, in order to uncover unique glycol profiles, was assessed. In this study we provide glycan characterization of SARS-CoV-2-positive and -negative nasopharyngeal samples directly from lectin interactions. Although with limited throughput, this study evaluated the clinical sensitivity and specificity of the GLYcoPROFILE ® technology platformon45crude nasopharyngeal samples collected between November 2020 and April 2022. Each GLYcoPROFILE ® of 39 SARS-CoV-2-positive samples was compared toglycoprofiling on a panel of 10 selected lectins and the results were paralleled with SARS-CoV-2-negative samples' results. The GLYcoPROFILE ® showed a clear distinction between positive and negative samples with WFA, GSL-II, PHA-L (Glc N Ac-specific) and BPA (Gal N Ac-specific) highlighted as relevant lectins in SARS-CoV-2-positive samples. In addition, a significant, positive statistical correlation was found for these lectins ( p < 0.01).