A dual enzymatic-biosensor for simultaneous determination of glucose and cholesterol in serum and peritoneal macrophages of diabetic mice: Evaluation of the diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis risk

In this paper, a novel dual enzymatic-biosensor is described for simultaneous determination of glucose and cholesterol in serum and peritoneal macrophages (PMs) of diabetic mice to evaluate the risk of diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis. The biosensor was constructed by a three-step method. First, a poly-thionine (PTH) film was assembled on the surface of glassy carbon electrode by cyclic voltammetric electropolymerization of thionine, which serves as an electron transfer mediator (ETM). Second, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were covered on the surface of PTH facilitating the electron transfer between glucose oxidase (GOx), cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) and electrode. Finally, the enzymes, GOx, cholesterol esterase (ChE), and ChOx, were covalently attached to the PTH layer through a chitosan (CH) linker. The PTH coupled with GNPs provides good selectivity, high sensitivity and little crosstalk for the dual enzymatic-biosensor. The developed biosensor had good electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidations of glucose and cholesterol, exhibiting a linear range from 0.008 mM to 6.0 mM for glucose with a detection limit of 2.0 μM, and a linear range from 0.002 mM to 1.0 mM for cholesterol with a detection limit of 0.6 μM. The results of the diabetic mice demonstrated that the cholesterol level did not change obviously with the increase of glucose level in serum, while the cholesterol level was induced with the increase of the glucose level in PMs. Previous studies have shown that the large accumulation of cholesterol in macrophage could lead to macrophage foam cell formation, which is the hallmark of early atherosclerosis. This study provides useful further evidences for the development of diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis.

Graphical abstractIn this paper, we reported a novel dual enzymatic-biosensor for simultaneous determination of glucose and cholesterol in serum and peritoneal macrophages (PMs) of diabetic mice to evaluate the diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis risk. The biosensor was firstly modified with a poly-thionine (PTH) film as electron transfer mediator (ETM), then the gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were covered on the surface of PTH to act as tiny conduction centers for facilitating the electron transfer between enzymes and electrode. The schematic of the dual biosensor is shown in figure. The developed dual biosensor had good electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidations of glucose and cholesterol, exhibited a linear range from 0.008 mM to 6.0 mM for glucose with a detection limit of 2.0 μM, and a linear range from 0.002 mM to 1.0 mM for cholesterol with a detection limit of 0.6 μM. The results of the diabetic mice demonstrated that the cholesterol level was not changed obviously with the increase of glucose level in serum, while the cholesterol level was enhanced together with the increase of the glucose level in PMs. Previous studies have shown that the large accumulation of cholesterol in macrophage could lead to macrophage foam cell formation, the hallmark of early atherosclerosis. These findings indicated the possibility that high glucose induced by diabetes might increase the macrophage cholesterol level to further accelerate atherosclerosis development.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► A novel biosensor was developed to determine glucose and cholesterol simultaneously. ► The dual enzymatic-biosensor has good selectivity and high sensitivity. ► We determined glucose and cholesterol in the real samples of diabetic mice. ► The results showed that high glucose might increase the macrophage cholesterol level. ► It provided useful experimental evidences for diabetes-accelerate atherosclerosis.