A flow-based diagnostic approach for early inflammation detection in clinical settings

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key cytokine implicated in tumor progression and angiogenesis.
• Accurate and sensitive detection of IL-6 is crucial for cancer diagnostics and monitoring.
• Existing methods for IL-6 detection can be time-consuming and lack sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an integrated fluidic immunosensor for sensitive electrochemical detection of IL-6 protein.
• To enhance immunosensor performance through surface modification with nanomaterials.
• To evaluate the immunosensor's performance in fetal bovine serum (FBS) samples.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a fluidic biochip on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs).
• Modification of SPCEs with multi-walled carbon nanotubes-poly(allylamine hydrochloride)/gold nanoparticles (MWCNTs-PAH/AuNPs) for improved antibody attachment and electron transfer.
• Electrochemical characterization using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV).
• Morphological and structural analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• The modified SPCEs demonstrated enhanced electron transfer efficiency and antibody immobilization.
• The immunosensor achieved a linear detection range of 0.001 to 0.1 ng/mL for IL-6 protein.
• A low limit of detection of 0.05 pg/mL was obtained.
• The immunosensor showed good reproducibility, stability, and selectivity in FBS samples.

Conclusions:

• The integrated fluidic immunosensor offers a sensitive, rapid, and minimally invasive method for IL-6 detection.
• This approach surpasses traditional batch sensor methods in terms of sensitivity, reproducibility, and speed.
• The developed immunosensor has potential for clinical applications in determining IL-6 protein levels.