SIMPLIFYING THE PROCESSING OF SALIVA SAMPLES & INCREASING TESTING SENSITIVITY
Optimized Saliva Workflow for SARS-CoV-2 Testing
Saliva is desirable as a specimen type for SARS-CoV-2 testing because sample collection is much easier and less invasive than other sample types. We have optimized the entire workflow for SARS-CoV-2 testing of saliva samples to simplify sample processing and increase the sensitivity of the test.
Saliva Collection
1-5 mL of saliva are collected in a sterile, leak-proof screw cap container.
Sample Homogenization
Homogenization is an important step in our optimized saliva detection workflow. Adding a homogenization step with the Bead Ruptor Elite Bead Mill Homogenizer prior to viral RNA isolation simplifies the processing of saliva samples and increases the sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 detection in these samples.
Sample Reformatting & Pooling
The JANUS® G3 primary sample reformatter provides safe and traceable barcode scanning and reformatting of up to 192 saliva samples per run into various destination labware to support sample homogenization and viral RNA extraction.
An easy-to-use method automating pooling prior to viral RNA isolation on the JANUS® G3 primary sample reformatter simplifies pooling protocols and reduces human error.
Isolation of Viral RNA
Nucleic acid quality is a critical factor for SARS-CoV-2 testing. Isolating viral RNA form saliva can be challenging due to the abundance of impurities in saliva. The presence of these impurities, enzymatic inhibitors, and degraded nucleic acids all can have a negative impact on real-time PCR testing. Our chemagen™ nucleic acid extraction technology overcomes these challenges to enable robust and reproducible extraction of high-yield and high-quality RNA from human saliva.
The chemagic™ Viral DNA/ RNA 300 kit H96 and the chemagic™ 360 instrument are recommended for fast, high quality RNA extraction for use in PCR based detection of SARS-CoV-2.
PCR Assay Setup
The JANUS® G3 PCR workstation enables traceable and reproducible full walk-away RT-PCR sample prep while reducing the risk of hands-on errors in high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 testing. The JANUS® G3 PCR workstation is shipped with standardized sample prep protocols and can be configured to automate any SARS-CoV-2 PCR assay.
Citations:
Sahajpal, N. S., Mondal, A. K., Ananth, S., Njau, A., Ahluwalia, P., Chaubey, A., . . . Kolhe, R. (2020). SalivaAll: Clinical validation of a sensitive test for saliva collected in healthcare and community settings with pooling utility for SARS-CoV-2 mass surveillance. doi:10.1101/2020.08.26.20182816