LAUSR

Hepatitis B is a globally prevalent viral infectious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) for the rapid detection of hepatitis B preS2 antigen (preS2Ag) was established. The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) indirectly labelled with goat anti-mouse (GAM) secondary antibody were applied as a nanoprobe for free preS2 antibody (preS2Ab) capturing and signal amplification. By employing sample pre-incubation processing as well, preS2Ag-preS2Ab was sufficiently caught by the GAM-MNPs probe in 5 min. A qualitative sensitivity of 625 ng/mL was obtained by naked-eye observation within 15–20 min. A standard curve (0–5000 ng/mL) was established, with a quantitative limit of detection (LOD) of 3.6 ng/mL, based on the stability and penetrability of the magnetic signal characteristics. The proposed method for preS2Ag was rapid (~25 min, cf. ELISA ~4 h) and had a good accuracy, which was verified using an ELISA kit (relative error < 15%). Large equipment and skilled technicians were not required. The sensitivity and specificity of the developed GAM-MNPs-ICA method were 93.3% and 90% in clinical serum samples (n = 25), respectively. A good detection consistency (84%) was observed between the developed ICA method and 2 types of commercial ELISA kits, indicating that the GAM-MNPs-ICA has a potential application in large-scale screening for and point-of-care diagnosis of hepatitis B or other infectious diseases.