Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) detection as a rapid and convenient screening test for cystinuria.

Background: Cystinuria is an inborn congenital disorder characterised by a defective cystine metabolism resulting in the formation of cystine stones. The Brand's test, used for diagnosis, requires dangerous substances, so has been replaced with high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection (HPLC-FL). However, this technique requires the use of complex equipment. Infrared spectroscopy, universally used for stone analysis, recently was employed to detect insoluble cystine in urine. The aim of this study is to evaluate Infrared Spectroscopy combined with chemometric analysis as screening method to identify those patients requiring confirmation by HPLC-FL analysis.

Methods: We examined 24 h urine specimens from 57 patients. The quantitative analysis was performed by HPLC-FL. The infrared spectroscopic urine sediment analysis was performed with an ATR accessory (ATR-FTIR). Urine is centrifuged, the supernatant is discarded, and the sediment is dried on to the ATR prism surface. Statistical analysis was performed using a custom-made software developed in MATLAB environment.

Results: The HPLC-FL determination showed a normal excretion of cystine in 49 samples and an abnormal excretion in the remaining 8 samples. The ATR-FTIR analysis combined with a statistical approach gives a sensitivity of 1.0 and a specificity of 0.82 were obtained.

Conclusions: The introduction of the ATR-FTIR technique in our clinical laboratory setting may reduce time and cost analysis for diagnosis of cystinuria.