Sonochemical synthesis of polyoxometalate-stabilized gold nanoparticles for point-of-care determination of acetaminophen levels: preclinical study in an animal model

The aim of this study is the accurate and rapid detection of acetaminophen (AP) for point-of-care (POC) clinical diagnosis. Acetaminophen overdose causes acute liver failure and currently there is a lack of rapid quantitative detection methods for this drug in the emergency room. Here, low-frequency sonication (20 kHz) in the presence of phosphomolybdic acid (PMo(12)) was used to reduce Au(3+) to Au(0) and stabilize the resulting spherical Au(0) nanoparticles (herein AuNPs). These AuNPs@PMo(12) were used as nano-probes for the selective detection of acetaminophen in the presence of other commercial drugs. The optical sensing method we describe is based on the aggregation of AuNPs@PMo(12) in the presence of acetaminophen, which produces a red-shift in the absorption spectrum of the AuNPs@PMo(12), which is characterised by a color change from red to purple that is visible to the naked eye. Furthermore, the quantitative determination of acetaminophen concentrations can be carried out using the eyedropper function in Microsoft's PowerPoint or open access ImageJ software, using RGB (red, green, and blue) values. To prove the feasibility of this novel nanosensor, the concentration of acetaminophen was measured in over-the-counter pharmaceutical tablets and in serum samples taken from mice. This simple sensing approach offers high stability, selectivity, rapid detection time, and cost saving compared to other detection methods, which therefore opens the way for the development of quantitative POC acetaminophen detection using polyoxometalate-stabilized metal nanoparticles.