4.6 Article

Coprostanol as a Population Biomarker for SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Studies

Journal

WATER
Volume 14, Issue 2, Pages -

Publisher

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/w14020225

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2; coprostanol; PMMoV; crAssphage; wastewater surveillance; population biomarker

Funding

  1. European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation Programme
  2. Science Foundation Ireland [20-CoV-8460]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Wastewater surveillance is a cost-effective tool for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a community. This study demonstrates the usefulness of coprostanol as a population biomarker for wastewater surveillance studies, as it exhibits the lowest variation in wastewater samples and shows strong correlations with COVID-19 cases when levels are normalized to coprostanol.
Wastewater surveillance is a cost-effective tool for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a community. However, challenges remain with regard to interpretating such studies, not least in how to compare SARS-CoV-2 levels between different-sized wastewater treatment plants. Viral faecal indicators, including crAssphage and pepper mild mottle virus, have been proposed as population biomarkers to normalise SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater. However, as these indicators exhibit variability between individuals and may not be excreted by everyone, their utility as population biomarkers may be limited. Coprostanol, meanwhile, is a bacterial metabolite of cholesterol which is excreted by all individuals. In this study, composite influent samples were collected from a large- and medium-sized wastewater treatment plant in Dublin, Ireland and SARS-CoV-2 N1, crAssphage, pepper mild mottle virus, HF183 and coprostanol levels were determined. SARS-CoV-2 N1 RNA was detected and quantified in all samples from both treatment plants. Regardless of treatment plant size, coprostanol levels exhibited the lowest variation in composite influent samples, while crAssphage exhibited the greatest variation. Moreover, the strongest correlations were observed between SARS-CoV-2 levels and national and Dublin COVID-19 cases when levels were normalised to coprostanol. This work demonstrates the usefulness of coprostanol as a population biomarker for wastewater surveillance studies.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available