DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTROCHEMICAL DEVICE AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF NEGLECTED DISEASE

• Grant number: 22/13605-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: May 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Ronaldo Censi Faria
• Grantee: Izabelly Karol Poncio de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Leprosy is considered one of the Neglected Diseases and, despite being reported for more thanfour thousand years, it is still difficult to diagnose, affecting mainly low-income populationsand late diagnosis can generate permanent disabilities. Brazil is the second country in the world in a number of cases, losing to India. As the disease has a cure, there is an urgent need for a simple and fast method for early diagnosis, preventing the progression of the disease, and reducing the suffering of the patient and the transmission of the disease. Thus, this project proposes the development of an immunoassay, based on the use of a disposable electrochemical device,capable of detecting the presence of leprosy-causing bacteria via the presence of specificantibodies in serum samples. To achieve this objective, a synthetic peptide will be used, whichwill act as an antigenic target, and will be anchored in magnetic particles for the capture andseparation of the target antibody from the sample matrix. Silver nanoparticles modified withanti-IgG antibodies will be used as an electrochemical marker for the detection step. With this, it is expected to develop a test capable of detecting the antibody at low levels in serum samples capable of allowing the early diagnosis of leprosy in a simple and fast way that can be applied in the Unified Health System.