Photoluminescence-based immunochemical methods for determination of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin

Modern, sensitive, rapid, and selective analytical methods for the detection of inflammatory markers are a crucial tool for the assessment of inflammation state, efficacy of medical intervention, and the prediction of future diseases. Their development requires understanding of current state for point-of-care testing of inflammatory markers and identification of their crucial drawbacks. This review summarizes the progress in the application of luminescent labels for immunoassays. The luminescent labels became more popular in the latest decade due to their high sensitivity, selectivity, and robustness. This review presents a constructive analysis of different luminescent labels such as fluorescent organic dyes, quantum dots, long-lived emissive nanoparticles, and up-converting nanocrystals, as well as a range of the strategies for inflammatory markers determination. The advantages and disadvantages of all classes of luminescent labels are demonstrated, and the strategies of labels modification for their improvement are discussed. The current approaches for the creation of luminescent probes and robust assays are also highlighted.