An ELIME assay for hepatitis A virus detection

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• Virology

Background:

• Hepatitis A virus (HAV) poses a significant public health concern, necessitating sensitive and rapid detection methods.
• Existing diagnostic techniques for HAV can be time-consuming or lack sufficient sensitivity for certain applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel Enzyme Linked ImmunoMagnetic Electrochemical assay (ELIME) for the quantitative detection of HAV.
• To optimize analytical parameters and assess the performance characteristics of the developed ELIME system.

Main Methods:

• Development of polydopamine-modified magnetic nanobeads as a solid support for immunochemical detection.
• Utilizing an array of 8 screen-printed electrodes for electrochemical sensing via differential pulse voltammetry.
• Optimization of blocking reagents to minimize non-specific interactions and validation against Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-qPCR).

Main Results:

• The ELIME assay achieved a low detection limit of 1×10⁻¹¹ IU mL⁻¹ for HAV.
• Demonstrated a wide working range (10⁻¹⁰ - 5×10⁻⁷ IU mL⁻¹) with high precision (RSD < 7%).
• Successfully applied for HAV quantification in cell cultures and tap water, showing excellent correlation with RT-qPCR results.

Conclusions:

• The developed ELIME assay is a stable, highly selective, and sensitive tool for HAV antigen detection.
• This electrochemical method offers a promising alternative for rapid and accurate HAV diagnostics in clinical and environmental samples.
• The ELIME system provides a robust platform for quantitative virological analysis.