Detection and quantification of antiviral drug tenofovir using silver nanoparticles and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with spatially resolved hotspot selection

Abstract

This study introduces a convenient and ultra-sensitive method of detection and quantification of the antiviral drug, tenofovir (TFV), by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Novel spatially resolved instrumentation for spectral acquisition and subsequent statistical analysis for hot spot selection was developed for convenient quantification of TFV in an aqueous matrix. Methods of statistical analysis include the use of partial least squares (PLS) regression vector analysis and spectral ranking by quality indices computed using CHAOS theory. Hydroxylamine-reduced Ag colloidal nanoparticles evaporated to dryness on an aluminum well-plate were used as the SERS substrate. To our knowledge, quantification of TFV down to 25 ng/mL by SERS, comprising clinically relevant concentrations, has not been previously reported. Furthermore, in this work we propose a novel method of quantification of aqueous TFV standards by SERS using statistical treatment of data by PLS and CHAOS theory. Based on these data, we propose future studies to develop a method of TFV detection and quantification in biological samples, beneficial to clinicians for rapid assessment of drug adherence during the treatment and prevention of viral diseases.