19-Mar-2021 | Market Research Store
Team led by Dr. Jie Zheng from the University of Texas has being studying the potential impact of gold nanoparticles in nanomedicine. The new study showed that the gold nanoparticles could help detect acute liver damage at an early stage via a simple blood test.The lead researcher Zheng in the journal Science Advancesstates the applications of nanoparticles in detecting kidney related diseases or fortargeted cancer therapies. Our primary objective is to make it stress-free for the family doctors to identify any liver injuries in their patients at an early stage. The early diagnosis will help carry out necessary treatment on time and thereby, increase the chances of recovery.
Generally, for diagnosing or monitoring a liver disease biopsy is the most preferred action but it is a very painful, invasive, and complicated process. However, in the clinics, the medical professionals carry out various non-invasive tests to study the levels of enzymes or proteins such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the blood to indirectly monitor liver function as they are released only when the organ is damaged or when the hepatocytes die. There are possibilities that inflammation may also cause an abnormal spike in the levels of such biomarkers. These are the reasons there is delay in the detection and treatment of liver injury.
In the latest study, the researchers focused on the chemical glutathione, which is one of the primary antioxidants produced by the liver. The change in the efflux of this antioxidant by hepatocytes aids in controlling the detoxification function of a healthy liver. The moment the liver is damaged the production of glutathione is blocked. Thus, the lower levels of this antioxidant could be related to risks of liver diseases such as alcohol-related or nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases,liver cirrhosis,drug-induced liver injury,and liverfibrosis. The detection of glutathione is difficult as it is highly diluted by the blood, quickly absorbed by the other organs, and also speedily removed by the kidneys.
The researchers used gold nanoparticles to develop a nanoprobe to study the behavior of for acute liver injury in the mice. The chemically conjugated an organic fluorescent dye —indocyanine green (ICG)— onto gold nanoparticles for further clinical use. The dye does not fluoresce and is only activated in the liver at high specificity. Once in the liver, the dye is knocked off and taken over by glutathione molecules in the sinusoid. These gold nanoparticles on reaching the bloodstream could help detect glutathione levels. Thus, a simple blood test can help show the correlation between high amounts of ICGand liver damage. The novel approach is to develop nanomedicine to detect chronic liver injuries.