Novel iron–nickel bimetallic nanozyme with peroxidase-like activity for ultrasensitive uric acid detection and hyperuricaemia therapy evaluation

Abstract

Hyperuricemia (HUA) associated with a range of metabolic disorders has become a risk factor for many chronic diseases. Nanozymes, which mimic enzymatic activities, are prized for their high activity, low cost, and robust stability. Investigating the peroxidase (POD)-like activity of nanozymes is crucial for advancing biosensing and biocatalysis. In this work, we synthesized a series of Fe_xNi_y-NFs with POD-like activity, featuring varying mass ratios of iron to nickel. Among these, the Fe₄Ni-NFs, which exhibited the highest catalytic activity, were selected to develop a user-friendly point-of-care (POC) detection method for the colorimetric quantification of uric acid (UA). This method achieved a detection limit of 1.13 µM and a linear range of 2–500 µM, enabling rapid, visual detection of UA in serum. Furthermore, we assessed serum UA levels in hyperuricemic rats treated with allopurinol and benzbromarone, demonstrating rapid drug efficacy evaluation. Our findings highlight the potential of Fe₄Ni-NFs in UA detection and hyperuricemia management, suggesting broad applications in drug development and precision medicine. This work provided mechanistic insights into bimetallic nanozymes’ POD-like activity and underscores their potential for biomedical applications, offering a new strategy for hyperuricemia diagnosis and treatment.