A highly sensitive assay for spectrofluorimetric determination of reduced glutathione using organic nano-probes

In this study, the new nanometer-sized fluorescent particles (1-pyrenemethylamine nanoparticles) have been prepared by reprecipitation method under ultrasonic radiation. These nanoparticles have the potential to overcome problems encountered by organic small molecules by combining the advantages of high photobleaching threshold, high quantum yield, long fluorescence lifetime, good chemical stability, and wide excitation spectral properties. These nanoparticles will be able to be directly used as fluorescent nanoparticles probe without modification. A new fluorimetric method for the determination of reduced glutathione (GSH) has been developed with these nanoparticles. Under optimal conditions, the organic nanoparticles reacted with GSH and o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) to give a highly fluorescent derivative in Na2CO3-HCl buffer (pH = 9.0). The fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths of fluorescent derivative were located at 345 and 400 nm, respectively. The relative fluorescence intensity (RF) was linear in the range of the GSH concentration from 8.0 × 10−7 to 1.1 × 10−4 mol l−1. Limit of detection of 7.1 × 10−8 mol l−1 was achieved for the reduced glutathione. The method was validated and applied to the analysis of three synthetic samples containing reduced glutathione.