ArticleParasites & vectors2021
Urine metabolites for the identification of Onchocerca volvulus infections in patients from Cameroon.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metabolomic Biomarkers for the Human Diagnosis of Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Systematic Review.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2026Pooled it
- Identification and Characterization ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Epilepsy and nodding syndrome in association with an Onchocerca volvulus infection drive distinct immune profile patterns.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Whole blood transcriptome analysis in onchocerciasis.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2022Article
- Immunomodulatory and biological properties of helminth-derived small molecules: Potential applications in diagnostics and therapeutics.Frontiers in parasitology · 2022Review
- Multimodal biomarker discovery for active Onchocerca volvulus infection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe tropical disease onchocerciasis (river blindness), caused by Onchocerca volvulus filarial nematodes, is targeted for elimination by mass treatment with nematocidal and antimicrobial drugs. Diagnosis of O. volvulus infections is based on counts of skin-borne microfilariae, but additional diagnostic tools, e.g. worm- or host-derived small RNAs, proteins or metabolites, are required for high-throughput screening. N-acetyltyramine-O,β-glucuronide (NATOG) was suggested as a biomarker for onchocerciasis but its viability as diagnostic tool has been challenged.
methodsWe performed a screening program of urine samples from individuals from Cameroon infected with O. volvulus, Loa loa, Mansonella perstans or a combination thereof. Urine metabolites were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Principle component analysis (PCA) revealed that onchocerciasis causes complex changes of the urine metabolome.
resultsThe mean NATOG content was elevated in urine of O. volvulus-infected compared with non-infected individuals, but NATOG levels showed considerable variation. However, 13.8% of all O. volvulus-infected individuals had high NATOG levels never reached by individuals without filarial infections or only infected with L. loa or M. perstans. Therefore, the identification of individuals with high NATOG levels might be used to screen for the elimination of onchocerciasis after mass drug application. Additional metabolites, including a compound identified as cinnamoylglycine, had high PC1/PC2 loadings in the data set. Mean levels of cinnamoylglycine were increased in O. volvulus-infected individuals, and 17.2% of all O. volvulus individuals had elevated cinnamoylglycine levels not reached by the controls.
conclusionsOn an individual level, NATOG alone had poor discriminative power distinguishing infected from non-infected individuals. However, 13.8% of all O. volvulus-infected individuals had NATOG levels never reached by individuals without filarial infections or infected with only L. loa or M. perstans. Discrimination of O. volvulus infections from controls or individuals suffering from multiple infections was improved by the measurement of additional metabolites, e.g. cinnamoylglycine. Thus, measuring a combination of urine metabolites may provide a way to assess onchocerciasis on the population level. This provides the possibility to design a strategy for large-scale onchocerciasis epidemiological screening programs based on urine rather than invasive techniques.
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