DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW METHOD OF DIAGNOSTICS OF TOXOPLASMOSIS BASED ON PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES
Toxoplasma gondii is a common agent of protozoan disease of different kinds of animals and humans. That is why timely and accurate diagnosis of the disease is important. That is why a new method for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis based on photoluminescence of nanoparticles of zinc oxide was developed and tested. A Photoluminescence spectrum of Toxoplasma biomolecules on the surface of ZnO was recorded through fiber-optic spectrometer, and the method of scanning electron microscopy was used to study the nanorods microstructure. As a result of studies it was revealed that immune complexes biosensor based on zinc oxide have sufficient specificity reaction taking into account the significant reduction of signal when making specific serums with the dilution of 1: 5. Reduction of the photoluminescence intensity indicates the formation of nanorods biocomplexes on the surface of zinc oxide on a "key-lock" principle which is accompanied by a modification of the pre-adsorbed antibody molecules structure. Based on the obtained results, it is possible to state that described method has high detection rate and relatively low complexity of the application. Further study and improvement of methods of diagnosis of toxoplasmosis using immune biosensor will enable cheaper diagnosis of the disease process and accelerate it.