Albumin quantification by alternative chemometric-assisted dye-binding methods robust towards pH and ionic strength...

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Albumin is a crucial protein in human fluids, serving as a biomarker for diseases like diabetes, kidney, and liver conditions.
• Current clinical methods for albumin determination use UV-Vis spectroscopy with dye-binding assays, which are rapid and cost-effective but suffer from limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate novel dye-binding methods for albumin quantification.
• To assess the performance of these methods across a broader range of pH and ionic strength compared to existing techniques.

Main Methods:

• Investigated five sulfonephthalein dyes (BPB, BCG, BCP, CPR, BTB) with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) as a model.
• Employed Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression for multivariate analysis and quantification.
• Evaluated method performance across pH 3.5-9 and ionic strength 0.01-0.5 M.

Main Results:

• Successfully quantified BSA using individual dyes and multivariate models.
• Achieved quantification over an extended pH range (3.5-9) and ionic strength (0.01-0.5 M).
• Demonstrated significant robustness of multivariate models to variations in pH and ionic strength.

Conclusions:

• The proposed alternative dye-binding methods, particularly with multivariate analysis, offer enhanced accuracy and robustness for albumin quantification.
• These methods overcome limitations of current clinical assays, showing potential for wider applicability in diagnostics.