Differential interferences with clinical chemistry assays by gold nanorods, and gold and silica nanospheres

Abstract

Nanomaterials are known to cause interference with several standard toxicological assays. As part of an in vivo study of PEG-coated gold nanorods in mice, nanorods were added to reference serum, and results for standard clinical chemistry parameters were compared with serum analyzed without nanorods. PEG-coated gold nanorods produced several concentration-dependent interferences. Comparisons were then made with PEG-coated gold and silica nanospheres. Interferences were observed for both materials that differed from gold nanorods. Removal of the particles from serum by centrifugation prior to analysis resolved most, but not all of the interferences. Additional clinical chemistry analyzers were used to further investigate trends in assay interference. We conclude that PEG-coated gold and silica nanoparticles can interfere with standard clinical chemistry tests in ways that vary depending upon material, shape, and specific assay methodology employed. Assay interferences by nanomaterials cannot always be predicted, underscoring the need to verify that nanomaterials under study do not interfere with methods used to evaluate potential biological effects.

• Assay interference
• clinical chemistry
• in vivo
• nanotoxicology
• particle characterization

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tina Conrad at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine Clinical Pathology and Diagnostics lab for performing clinical chemistry analyses.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Supplementary material available online

Supplementary Tables S1–S6