Nanotheranostics refers to the application and advancement of nanomedicine strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It often involves the use of nanoparticles (NPs) and therefore requires analytical techniques to characterize these NPs in their intended biological environments. Among them, single-particle ICP-MS (SP-ICP-MS), is one of the most promising techniques because it provides data on the size, concentration and elemental composition of inorganic NPs [1].

Clinical laboratories use clinical diluent, a mixture of ammonia, EDTA, 2-propanol, Triton X-100 and ultrapure water, to dilute body fluids such as blood and urine for routine metal analysis. This alkaline diluent offers several advantages, including erythrocyte lysis, a critical step for effective analyte extraction. In addition, its alkalinity prevents precipitation, reducing the risk of nebulizer clogging during analysis, and minimizes memory effects and spectral interferences, thereby improving measurement accuracy and reliability [2].

The aim of this study is to develop a method for the characterization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in blood and urine by SP-ICP-MS, and to investigate the effect of clinical diluent on this characterization. To do so, the effect of clinical diluent on the stability of AuNPs over 10 days is assessed, along with the determination of the detection limit of nanoparticle size, and the evaluation of the accuracy and precision of the method in blood and urine. In addition, this method has been proven for the characterization of NPs used in the development of nanotheranostic treatments ((Au+CeO₂)@mSiO₂). In this regard, their stability in clinical diluent has been studied, as well as the accuracy and precision of the method in urine and blood for these NPs.

References

[1] F. Laborda, E. Bolea, J. Jiménez-Lamana, Anal Chem, 2013, 86, 2270–2278.

[2] Y. Lu, M. Kippler, F. Harari, M. Grandér, B. Palm, H. Nordqvist and M. Vahter, Clin Biochem, 2015,48, 140–147.