RESUMO
STUDY QUESTION: Can a home-use device be used to predict serum hormone levels? SUMMARY ANSWER: A home-use device can predict urinary hormone values which are well-correlated to serum concentrations of respective hormones and hence can be used as a proxy for serum measurements. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Home-use devices that predict ovulation are calibrated against the actual day of ovulation. However, the correlation of any quantitative system to serum hormone concentrations has not been established. STUDY DESIGN SIZE DURATION: A total of 73 data points obtained from 20 participants across different phases of the menstrual cycle, i.e. bleeding days, follicular phase and luteal phase were used to establish the correlation between serum hormones and urinary metabolite values. Single data points from 20 random users were used to assess the correlation established. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS SETTING METHODS: Participants were women in the fertile age groups and only current users of the home-use device. Selection was done based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Blood hormones were tested using chemiluminescent immunoassays and urinary measurements were taken on the home-use device at home. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Serum estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4) and LH were correlated with urinary estrone-3-glucuronide (E3G), pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG) and LH with an R 2 of 0.96, 0.95 and 0.98, respectively. Repredicted serum concentration obtained by using the correlation equation had a correlation of 0.92, 0.94 and 0.93 in unknown samples. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: The study was designed to include women who have normal cycle lengths regularly; therefore, the values obtained were in the normal range. Certain infertility conditions may cause the values to be higher and correlation in such cases needs to be established. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The results of this study imply a new tool that can be used by fertility specialists as a proxy for blood tests whenever required. Extended study on this system can enable its use in assisted reproductive techniques as well. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: No funding was received for this study. S.P. and D.D. are employees of the research and development division of Samplytics Technologies Pvt. Ltd. which is a forwarder for Inito Inc., USA. A.R. and V.A.V. are co-founders of Inito Inc., USA. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: The trial was registered at the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) registry (Identifier: ISRCTN15534557).
RESUMO
Engineering photo-plasmonic platforms with heterometallic nanohybrids are of paramount significance for realizing augmented sensitivity in fluorescence-based analytical detection. Although myriad nanomaterials with versatile functionalities have been explored in this regard in the surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE) interface, light harvesting using nano-antennas synthesized via sustainable bio-inspired routes still remains a high priority in current research. Our study provides a rational design for in situ fabrication of nanoparticles of silver, gold, and their plasmonic hybrids using biocompatible, non-hazardous sericin protein (obtained Bombyx mori) as the reducing and capping agent. The one-pot, user-eco-friendly technology demonstrated here utilizes UV irradiation to promote the photo-induced electron transfer mechanism, thereby yielding nanomaterials of tunable optoelectronic functionalities. The resulting homometallic and heterometallic nanohybrids with robust localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) showed strong light-confining attributes when interfaced with the propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) of the SPCE platform, thereby yielding tunable, highly directional, polarized, and amplified fluorescence emission. The experimentally obtained emission profiles displayed an excellent correlation with the theoretically obtained dispersion diagrams validating the spectro-plasmonic results. The abundant hotspots from AgAu nanocubes presented in excess of 1300-fold dequenched fluorescence enhancement and were utilized for cost-effective and real-time mobile phone-based sensing of biologically relevant mefenamic acid at an attomolar limit of detection. We believe that this superior biosensing performance accomplished using the frugal bioinspired nano-engineering at hybrid interfaces would open new doors for developing nanofabrication protocols with the quintessential awareness of the principles of green nanotechnology, consequently eliminating hazardous chemicals and solvents in the development of point-of-care diagnostic tools.