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Semiquantitative immunochromatographic colorimetric biosensor for the detection of dexamethasone based on up-conversion fluorescent nanoparticles

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Abstract

A low-cost bifunctional immunochromatographic colorimetric biosensor was developed that can be read visually or by using an optical density scanner. Five test lines (T lines) coated with different antigens were set on a nitrocellulose (NC) membrane to indicate the concentration of analyte. This method was applied for the detection of dexamethasone. The corresponding detection range was 0.1–9 ng mL−1, and the detection limit for dexamethasone in food supplements and cosmetic samples was 2.0 μg kg−1. For visual inspection of the colour the quantitative relative error range between the proposed method and liquid chromatography was −62 to −25%, with a detection time of only 10 min. More accurate assay results were obtained by using an optical density scanner with the relative error range of −31 to 20%. The results indicated that the proposed method has the potential of application for rapid and efficient screening of dexamethasone in cosmetics and food supplements.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2019B020211002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31871887), the Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (2020A1515011238, 2019B1515210025 and 2018B030314005), and the Key Scientific Research Projects of Guangdong Provincial Universities and Colleges (2018KZDXM011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Shiwei Zhang, Yuanming Sun, Hong Wang & Yudong Shen

  2. National Nutrition Food Testing Center, Shenzhen Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

    Shiwei Zhang

  3. Department of Anaesthesiology, Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

    Yanyan Sun

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  1. Shiwei Zhang
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  2. Yanyan Sun
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  3. Yuanming Sun
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  4. Hong Wang
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Correspondence to Yanyan Sun or Yudong Shen.

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Zhang, S., Sun, Y., Sun, Y. et al. Semiquantitative immunochromatographic colorimetric biosensor for the detection of dexamethasone based on up-conversion fluorescent nanoparticles. Microchim Acta 187, 447 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04418-0

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