Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization/Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry as A Rapid and Sensitive Detection Method of Occult Blood in Feces

摘要

The presence of occult blood in feces may be a warning sign of renal tract abnormalities, gastrointestinal diseases, or colorectal cancer - the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the Western society nowaday. Conventionally, chemical or biological tests are applied for detecting occult blood in feces. However, the testing reagents are carcinogetic, unstable during storage, easy of giving false-positive result and labor-cost. Therefore, development of a rapid, automatic, and reliable method for detecting the occult blood has assumed greater importance. Herein, we report using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to rapidly and sensitively detect hemoglobin, a protein biomarker of occult blood, in feces.