Data from Rodríguez-Hernández et al. (2023) "Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex field infections in cattle using faecal volatile organic compound analysis through gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry combined with chemometrics".

Bovine tuberculosis is considered a re-emerging disease caused by different species from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC), not only important for the livestock sector but also for public health due its zoonotic character. Despite numerous efforts that have been carried out to improve the performance of the current antemortem diagnostic procedures, nowadays they still pose several drawbacks, such as moderate to low sensitivity, highlighting the necessity to develop alternative and innovative tools to complement control and surveillance frameworks. Volatilome analysis is considered an innovative approach which has been widely employed in animal science, including animal health field and diagnosis, due to the useful and interesting information provided by volatile metabolites. Therefore, this study assesses the potential of Gas Chromatography coupled to Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC-IMS) to discriminate cattle naturally infected (field infections) by MTC from non-infected animals. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) produced from faeces were analysed, employing the subsequent information through chemometrics. After the evaluation of Variable Importance for the Projection (VIP) of compounds, the final discriminant models achieved a robust performance in cross-validation, as well as high percentages of correct classification (>90%) and optimal data of sensitivity (91.66%) and specificity (99.99%) in external validation. The tentative identification of some VOCs revealed some coincidences with previous studies, although potential new compounds associated with the discrimination of infected and non-infected subjects were also addressed. These results provide strong evidence that a volatilome analysis of faeces through GC-IMS coupled to chemometrics could become a valuable methodology to discriminate the infection by MTC in cattle. Steps to reproduce: 1.5 grams of fresh faeces were placed in a 20 mL glass headspace vial, it was subsequently closed with a magnetic screw cap and a PTFE silicone septum and, finally, volatile organic compounds were analysed through gas chromatography coupled to ion mobility spectrometry. The final database is result of the selection of 260 features in the topographic plots of GC-IMS equipment.