Development of hydrogel biochip for in vitro allergy diagnostics

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Immunology
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Accurate quantification of specific IgE (sIgE) and total IgE is crucial for diagnosing allergic diseases.
• Existing diagnostic methods can be time-consuming or lack multiplexing capabilities for a wide range of allergens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel hydrogel biochip for the simultaneous quantitative determination of sIgE against 21 allergens and total IgE in human serum.
• To assess the performance of the developed biochip by comparing its results with a commercial Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) test system.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of hydrogel biochips via photoinduced copolymerization of allergens, antibodies, and gel-forming monomers.
• Development of three-dimensional hydrogel elements (1nl gel drops) for high-density analyte capture.
• Detection of bound IgE using fluorescently labeled anti-IgE antibodies and analysis of serum samples from allergic patients and healthy donors.

Main Results:

• The hydrogel biochip successfully enabled simultaneous quantitative determination of sIgE for 21 allergens and total IgE.
• Analysis of serum samples showed good correlation between the hydrogel biochip results and those obtained from a commercial EIA test system.
• The developed method provides a sensitive and specific platform for allergy diagnostics.

Conclusions:

• The developed hydrogel biochip is a promising tool for the simultaneous and quantitative assessment of multiple allergen-specific IgE and total IgE levels.
• This technology offers a potential advancement in allergy diagnostics, providing a reliable alternative to current commercial methods.
• The biochip's design allows for efficient and accurate analysis of patient serum samples.