Combining culture and microbead-based immunoassay for the early and generic detection of bacteria in platelet concentrates.

Background: Despite current preventive strategies, bacterial contamination of platelets is the highest residual infectious risk in transfusion. Bacteria can grow from an initial concentration of 0.03-0.

Highly labeled methylene blue-ds DNA silica nanoparticles for signal enhancement of immunoassays: application to the sensitive detection of bacteria in human platelet concentrates.

A nanoparticle-based electrochemical sandwich immunoassay was developed for bacteria detection in platelet concentrates. For the assay, magnetic beads were functionalized with antibodies to allow the specific capture of bacteria from the complex matrix, and innovative methylene blue-DNA/nanoparticle assemblies provided the electrochemical response for amplified detection. This nanoparticular system was designed as a temperature-sensitive nano-tool for electrochemical detection.