IIT Guwahati Develops Advanced Nanotech for Accurate Cholesterol and Triglyceride Detection

This breakthrough offers a promising solution to overcome limitations of traditional lipid profile tests, marking a significant leap toward more accessible and efficient healthcare solutions.

In a groundbreaking advancement for cardiovascular diagnostics, researchers at IIT Guwahati have developed a cutting-edge nanotechnology-based method for detecting cholesterol and triglycerides with unmatched precision. Utilizing innovative silver-gold nanorods, the team has significantly enhanced the sensitivity of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS), paving the way for point-of-care diagnostics that could transform the early detection and management of cardiovascular diseases.

The work utilises bimetallic nanostructures that are 10,000 times thinner than the width of a human hair for the high-fidelity detection of the biomarkers in the human blood.

The findings of this research have been recently published in the high-impact journal, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, authored by Dr. Mitali Basak, Prof. Dipankar Bandyopadhyay and Prof. Harshal B. Nemade.

The metabolic biomolecules like cholesterol and triglycerides play pivotal role in maintaining a harmonious cardiovascular health of a human body. The high (HDL) and low (LDL) density lipoproteins transport cholesterol to the cellular sites for various metabolic activities. An imbalance of LDL and HDL cause arterial plaque formation leading to hypertension, formation of blood clots, or ischemia. On the other hand, Triglycerides (TGA) transform into fatty acids and glycerol during digestion which in turn is packaged inside lipoproteins namely very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), for transportation to the cells. An elevated level of triglycerides leads to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, pancreatitis, type 2 diabetes, or fatty liver.

Therefore, the timely detection of any abnormality and a close monitoring of cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood is highly sought for. While traditional lipid profile tests of blood are reliable, they often require laboratory settings, are not available as a point-of-care solution, and can take time to provide results.

To address these limitations, the researchers have focused on a technique that combines nanotechnology and molecular detection, which can further be translated into a point-of-care as device with an enhanced diagnostic precision.

Speaking about the research, Prof. Dipankar Bandyopadhyay said, “With the recent advent of the low-cost and portable Raman spectroscopy devices open the possibility of utilisation of these sensors for the real-time monitoring of HDL, LDL, VLDL, and TGA at patients’ site, that may help and mitigate the cardiovascular diseases before even their onset if not at the acute stage. Further, IPR of such technologies will enable indigenisation of such high-precision gen-next sensors for the development of our own auto-analysers, which are presently imported from the abroad.”

The researchers validated the superior performance of their silver-gold nanorods (Ag–Au NRs) through both experiments and advanced simulations. Due to the unique coupling of silver and gold, these nanorods showed enhanced light interaction properties, known as localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). This combination amplified signals 20 to 50 times more effectively than using gold nanorods alone, proving their significant advantage for applications like nano-enabled SERS.

This breakthrough research represents a major step forward in molecular diagnostics. By enhancing the precision and sensitivity of cholesterol and triglyceride testing, the team’s work has the potential to transform healthcare, enabling earlier detection of cardiovascular diseases at the patients’ site.

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