Washing-free chemiluminescence immunoassay for rapid detection of cardiac troponin I in whole blood samples

Chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) has always been a great challenge in detecting cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in whole blood samples without centrifugation because of the interference of red blood cells and low sensitivity. In this study, the antigens and erythrocytes in the blood were captured by the antibodies immobilized on the magnetic particles, recognized by another biotinconjugated cTnI antibody and detected by streptavidin/acridine aster-conjugated polychloromethylstyrene microspheres (PCMS). After magnetic separation, the supernatant was transferred and measured. No significant difference was noted between the cTnI concentrations of the serum samples, plasma samples and whole blood. The prepared PCMS provided more functional areas to conjugate streptavidin and acridinium ester, so the immunoassay has highly sensitive, the limits of blank at 0.012 ng/mL, and functional sensitivity at 0.019 ng/mL with a CV of 20%, and 0.058 ng/mL with a CV of 10%. Total precision of any sample type ranged from 2.62%similar to 5.67%. The assay was linear over the studied range of 0.01-50.00 ng/mL, and no hook effect was found when cTnI concentrations reached 1900 ng/mL. No significant interference was noted with the potential endogenous interfering substances. Compared with the commercial kit (Abbott assay kit), the correlation coefficient was 0.9859. A washing-free CLIA was established for the rapid detection of cTnI in human whole blood, using erythrocyte capture antibodies-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles for eliminating the influence of erythrocytes and PCMS for signal amplification, which showed great potential in clinical application. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Automated summary

A chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) method was developed for the rapid detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in whole blood samples without centrifugation. The method utilized magnetic particles with immobilized antibodies to capture antigens and erythrocytes, and polychloromethylstyrene microspheres (PCMS) for signal amplification. The CLIA method showed high sensitivity, broad linear range, and was not significantly interfered by endogenous substances, demonstrating great potential for clinical application.