Nanoparticles rapidly assess specific IgE  in plasma.
Allergy is the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the world. This study demonstrates the feasibility of detecting allergy indicators in human plasma, noninvasively, at the point of care and with a comparable efficiency and reduced turnaround time compared with the gold standard. Peanut allergy was utilized as a model due to its widespread occurrence among the US population and fatality if not treated. The detection procedure utilized magnetic nanoparticles that were coated with an allergen layer (peanut protein extract). Peanut immunoglobulin E (IgE) was detected in concentrations close to the minimum detection range of CAP assay. The results were obtained in minutes compared with the CAP assay which requires more than 3 h.
Center for Research Excellence in Nanobiosciences, University of North Carolina, 321 McIver Street Greensboro, NC 27412, USA.
Sarmadia
S
Ashraf
Shahnaz
S
Qadri
Basel
B
al-Ramadi
Yousef
Y
Haik
D000042:Absorption; D010367:Arachis / Q000276:immunology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D010316:Particle Size; D021183:Peanut Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
D015415:Biomarkers; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D010940:Plant Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E