Abstract
Early diagnosis is vital for the reduction of mortality caused by neonatal infections. Since TNF-α can be used as a marker for the early diagnosis, the detection of TNF-α with high sensitivity and specificity has great clinical significance. Herein, a highly sensitive and reusable electrochemical sensor was fabricated. Due to the high specificity of aptamers, TNF-α could be accurately detected from five similar cytokines, even from serum samples. In addition, Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) with a high surface area were able to combine a large number of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOXh), which made the sensor have a high sensitivity. The sensor had a good linear relationship with TNF-α concentration in the range from 1 to 1 × 104 pg/mL and the lowest detection limit is 0.7 pg/mL. More important was that the sensor could be reused 6 times by a crafty use of chain replacement reaction. Meanwhile, the detection time and cost were greatly reduced. Thus, we believe that these advantages of higher specificity and sensitivity, lower cost, and shorter detection time will provide a stronger potential for early diagnosis of neonatal infections in clinical applications.
Highlights
Neonatal infections are the most common causes of neonatal morbidity worldwide [1,2,3]
The technology for early diagnosis of neonatal infections is of great significance
Considering that the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α plays an important role in the inflammation induced by infections, and the concentration of TNF-α in serum is associated with the degree of infections, TNF-α can be a good indicator for the early diagnosis of neonatal infections [6,7,8]
Summary
Neonatal infections are the most common causes of neonatal morbidity worldwide [1,2,3]. Since TNF-α levels (60–100 pg/mL) are very low in the early stage of neonatal infections, the sensitivity and specificity of the detection methods are strictly required. The commonly used detection methods for TNF-α that have been reported are ELISA [9], radioimmunoassays [10], and time-resolved fluorescence assays [11] Most of these methods are costly and time-consuming, have low sensitivity and specificity, or need professional operators. These shortcomings limit their use in TNF-α detection of newborns. March methods realized the reuse of a sensor, but the detection cost could be further decreased. Compared with the reported TNF-a sensor, our sensor has greater sensitivity and specificity, a lower cost, and a shorter detection time. TNF-α sensor will have superior performance in real blood samples and has a strong potential for clinical applications
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