Surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman scattering dual-readout chip constructed with silver nanowires: Label-free clinical detection of direct-bilirubin.

It has been found that the direct/total bilirubin ratio (D/T-BIL) is related to the survival rate of COVID-19 pneumonia. The presence of an excessive amount of bilirubin in human blood also causes liver and neurological damage, leading to death. Therefore, upon considering the adverse impact of the presence of excessive bilirubin in human blood, it has become highly imperative to detect bilirubin in a fast and label-free manner. Herein, we designed and constructed a random-crossed-woodpile nanostructure from silver nanowires to form a 3-dimensional plasmonic hotspot-rich (3D-PHS) nanostructure and successfully used it to detect direct bilirubin (D-BIL) in human blood in a label-free manner. The 3D-PHS nanochip provides rich spatial hot spots that are simultaneously responsive to SERS and SPEF effects and consequently, successfully used to measure and characterize D-BIL with a detection limit of ∼10 nM, requiring only 10µL of human serum for rapid screening, which is the first time D-BIL has been detected in a clinically relevant range. This demonstrates a simple, label-free, pretreatment-free potential biosensing technology that can be used in health care units, and further, in the efficient detection of point-of-care testing with a portable spectrometer.

Validation of the Estimation of Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol by the Modified Friedewald Equation in Ethnic Chinese Adults Living in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: The Friedewald equation has been used as the standard formula for the estimation of very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) to calculate the serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, the usefulness of this formula in non-Caucasians has been challenged in recent years. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the conventional and modified Friedewald equation in an ethnic Chinese adult population. METHODS: We prospectively recruited 938 subjects from the Lipid Clinic of the National Taiwan University Hospital. The fasting lipids, including cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and triglycerides (TGs), of each participant were measured and we constructed a prediction model for the estimation of LDL-C by the modified Friedewald equation. RESULTS: The constant values, used to estimate the VLDL-C concentration, were different in the Friedewald equation in the subgroups exhibiting different cardiovascular characteristics, ranging from 4.45 to 6.63, if we calculated the equation by a direct LDL-C measurement. According to the results of a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis excluding the TG levels ≥400 mg/dL, an equation for the individual constant Y estimation was as follows: Constant Y = 4.39 + (-0.59) if the age ≥50 years + 0.98 if men + TG group (2.06 if the TG levels were between 150-399 mg/dL; 1.07 if the TG levels were between 100-149 mg/dL) + (-0.49) if the cholesterol levels ≥240 mg/dL + the body mass index (BMI) group (0.8 if BMI ≥27 kg/m(2); 0.48 if BMI =24-27 kg/m(2)). CONCLUSION: This modified Friedewald formula provides a new and simple equation for calculating the LDL-C levels in ethnic Chinese people.