Quantitative Detection of Uric Acid by Electrochemical-Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Using a Multilayered Au/Ag Substrate

Uric acid is a potential important biomarker in urine and serum samples for early diagnosis of preeclampsia, a life-threatening hypertensive disorder that occurs during pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal death, especially in developing nation settings. Quantitative detection of uric acid for rapid and routine diagnosis of early preeclampsia using electrochemical-surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SERS) is presented herein. A uniform EC-SERS active Au/Ag substrate was developed by depositing nearly monodisperse gold and silver nanoparticles on the carbon working electrode surface of screen printed electrodes. The multilayered Au/Ag substrates were characterized by electron microscopy and used for quantitative detection of uric acid in 0.1 M NaF and synthetic urine at clinically relevant concentrations. These results showed a linear relationship between the EC-SERS signal intensity and the uric acid concentration. Relative errors calculated for selected concentrations were all within the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) criterion for uric acid analysis (±17%). It is believed that routine and early diagnosis of disease could be possible through such quantitative detection of biomarkers in patient samples using this EC-SERS method.