Colloidal SERS sensors for inflammatory biomarker detection in urine for patient risk stratification

Consistently raised levels of inflammatory marker - Neopterin, in urine is linked to increased risk of progression of age-related disease and poorer prognosis. We have developed colloidal SERS sensors and demonstrate their ability, and ease of use, for quantification of neopterin in human urine samples. Results with the sensors are comparable and in agreement with those obtained by HPLC and allow individuals to be stratified into ‘risk’ categories based on their results. With an average 17.85% difference in results between the two analytical approaches, SERS with colloidal sensors, demonstrates an alternative method that is rapid, inexpensive, requires minimal sample treatment, can be performed on a portable instrument with little need for complex data analysis, whilst having the analytical strength to reliably demonstrate an individual’s risk category based on inflammatory load.