An ultra-sensitive optical aptasensor based on gold nanoparticles/poly vinyl alcohol hydrogel as acceptor/emitter pair for fluorometric detection of digoxin with on/off/on strategy

Abstract A novel nanobiosensor was prepared by aptamer and gold nanoparticles conjugate in poly vinyl alcohol hydrogel for sensitive detection of digoxin in human plasma samples. The developed nanobiosensor was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering instrument. In this sensor the hydrogel acted as a fluorescent probe. The fluorescence intensity of the hydrogel was quenched by aptamer stabilized gold nanoparticles as energy acceptor. Upon addition of digoxin, the aptamer/drug complex was formed and the fluorescence of the hydrogel was restored because of destabilization and aggregation of gold nanoparticles in the presence of salt. The affecting parameters on the nanobiosensor performance were assessed and under the optimized conditions the external and in plasma calibration curves were linear in the 10–1000 ng L−1 digoxin concentration range with detection limits of 2.9 and 3.1 ng L−1, respectively. The relative standard deviations for 5 replicate determinations of 50, 250, and 500 ng L−1 of digoxin, were 7.3, 5.1, and 3.8%, respectively. This nanofluoroprobe was successfully applied for determination of digoxin in spiked plasma samples without any pretreatment procedure.