April 25, 2024

Cheaper and Faster: A New Device for Measuring Cholesterol

The new innovation simply needs a little quantity of blood to detect cholesterol levels.” Molecular imprinted polymers are needed to efficiently different cholesterol from other compounds in the blood.

The microfluidic chip, in which all aspects of the system are integrated, is printed on a 3D printer. Credit: Rodion Narudinov/ UrFU
New innovation is less pricey, more efficient, and quicker than traditional analogs.
Researchers at the Ural Federal University (UrFU) have actually created a brand-new sensor device for measuring blood cholesterol levels. This made it possible to produce cholesterol meters more cost effectively and to improve the speed, convenience, and ease of access of blood screening.
” Cholesterol decision is presently performed utilizing colorimetry, chromatography, and enzymes. However, these approaches utilize either exceptionally aggressive reagents or complex and costly devices, or– as recognizing and sensitive components that figure out cholesterol levels– enzymes– biological particles that are extracted from living organisms. The enzyme cholesterol oxidase is produced by some types of bacteria.”
He continues, “Also enzymes are natural polymers, proteins, for that reason, they are susceptible to denaturation and need particular storage conditions, temperature level and level of acidity regimes. We decided to select a non-biological analog of this enzyme to make the procedure of cholesterol analysis more affordable, much easier and much faster. One of the most affordable choices is copper chloride, which we initially discovered to be extremely sensitive to cholesterol,” explains Andrei Okhokhonin, Associate Professor at the UrFU Department of Analytical Chemistry.

Scientists at the Ural Federal University (UrFU) have actually created a brand-new sensing unit device for determining blood cholesterol levels. These methods use either exceptionally aggressive reagents or complex and costly equipment, or– as acknowledging and delicate elements that identify cholesterol levels– enzymes– biological particles that are drawn out from living organisms. One of the most cost effective options is copper chloride, which we first found to be extremely sensitive to cholesterol,” discusses Andrei Okhokhonin, Associate Professor at the UrFU Department of Analytical Chemistry.

According to Andrei Okhokhonin (envisioned), the chips are printed immediately in the laboratory. Credit: Rodion Narudinov/ UrFU
The new innovation just requires a little amount of blood to identify cholesterol levels. The blood is put in an evaluating chip consisting of a service of copper chloride in acetonitrile.
” Molecular imprinted polymers are required to effectively separate cholesterol from other substances in the blood. After trying several choices, we chose ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinking representative and vinylpyridine as the functional monomer. The polymer synthesized on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles effectively sorbs cholesterol, so we can talk about high selectivity of analysis, as no other compounds interfere,” stresses Andrei Okhokhonin.
The microfluidic chip, in which all components of the system are incorporated, is printed on a 3D printer, which also helps with the production procedure of the device, making it much faster. Scientists keep in mind that the first test they conducted was not on biological samples, but on design solutions that mimic blood serum. The next stage of the researchers work is to check the system on genuine blood samples.
Scientists have been conducting research for several years to establish enzyme-free sensing units for figuring out the number of biologically crucial substances, such as glucose, urea, creatinine, and others.
Cholesterol
Overall cholesterol consisted of in the body within regular limits is an essential compound, without which the appropriate performance of the body is impossible. In a certain amount, it can be found in all body fluids and tissues. Cholesterol is an obligatory component of cell membranes, it is responsible for the purchasing, compactness, and stability of the lipid biolayer. In addition, it is involved in managing the permeability of cell walls, identifying which particles can permeate the cell and which can not.
Raised blood cholesterol is a sign of a number of diseases, such as atherosclerosis, hereditary illness, persistent kidney failure, nephroptosis, high blood pressure, liver disease, and pancreatic diseases.
Recommendation: “A brand-new electrocatalytic system based on copper (II) chloride and magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles in 3D printed microfluidic circulation cell for low-potential and enzymeless cholesterol detection” by Andrei V. Okhokhonin, Marina I. Stepanova, Tatiana S. Svalova and Alisa N. Kozitsina, 28 September 2022, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry.DOI: 10.1016/ j.jelechem.2022.116853.