Voltammetric immunosensor assembled on carbon-pyrenyl nanostructures for clinical diagnosis of type of diabetes.

Herein we report the first serum insulin voltammetric immunosensor for diagnosis of type 1 and type 2 diabetic disorders. The sensor is composed of multiwalled carbon nanotube-pyrenebutyric acid frameworks on edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes (PGE/MWNT/Py) to which an anti-insulin antibody was covalently attached. The detection of picomolar levels of serum insulin binding to the surface antibody was achieved by monitoring the decrease in voltammetric current signals of a redox probe taken in the electrolyte solution. This method offered a detection limit of 15 pM for free insulin present in serum. This detection limit was further lowered to 5 pM by designing serum insulin conjugates with poly(acrylic acid)-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles (100 nm hydrodynamic diameter) and detecting the binding of MNP-serum insulin conjugate to the surface insulin-antibody on PGE/MWNT/Py electrodes. When tested on real patient serum samples, the sensor accurately measured insulin levels. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a voltammetric immunosensor capable of both diagnosing and distinguishing the type of diabetes based on serum insulin levels in diabetic patients.