Biomarkers of liver fibrosis detecting with electrochemical immunosensor on clinical serum

Diagnosing hepatic fibrosis at an early stage with sensitive and specific monitoring approach is crucial for patient therapeutics and survival. In this study, an electrochemical immunosensor was established to detect representative biomarkers of liver fibrosis, such as hyaluronate acid (HA) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1). Through a self-assembled monolayer of polyethylene glycol (PEG), antibodies against HA and TGFβ1 were successfully immobilized on interdigitated electrodes. It produced a robust and sensitive membrane by improving the uniformity, density, and distribution of the antibodies for the biomarkers. Based on impedance sensing, HA and TGFβ1 were sensitively detected in the ranges of 1-1000 ng/ml. The detection limits of HA and TGFβ1 reached 0.586 ng/ml and 0.570 ng/ml, respectively. In addition, for the detection of clinical serum samples, the results were in excellent agreement with the tests of HA, type III pre-collagen (PCIII), IV collagen (IV-C), and laminin (LN) that conducted by radioimmunoassay for liver fibrosis. The research indicated that the approach provided a valuable, universal, and label-free strategy in evaluating liver fibrosis and other chronic diseases for point-of-care diagnostics.