From lab to field: revolutionizing antibiotic detection with aptamer-based biosensors

Abstract

Antibiotics were initially discovered for their medicinal applications, however, since their introduction, the usage of antibiotics has expanded beyond clinical settings into various sectors, including agriculture, aquaculture, and animal husbandry. In these fields, antibiotics have often been employed non-judicially, primarily as growth promoters or preventative measures against infections, rather than strictly for therapeutic purposes. This widespread and often indiscriminate use has resulted in significant repercussions for both the environment and public health. The accumulation of antibiotics in soil and water ecosystems has led to alterations in microbial communities, fostering the emergence and proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). As these resistant strains circulate through various environmental pathways, they pose a growing threat not only to animal health but also to human health. Thus, the need for rapid, highly sensitive, and affordable detection platforms for ARB diagnostics has become urgent. Up to now, many analytical methods have been reported for the determination of antibiotics, such as HPLC, LC-MS, GC-MS, capillary electrophoresis-MS, etc. But these techniques are expensive, time-consuming, and demand trained operators. The aptamer based biosensors circumvent these problems and could ensure fast on-site analysis of antibiotics. In this review, we discuss how nucleic acid aptamer functionalized nanoparticles emerged as a sanguine answer to overcome the limitations of traditional detection modalities. Moreover, the latest advancement in the development of lateral flow assay, colorimetric, chemiluminescent, surface plasmon resonance, fluorescence and electrochemical biosensors for antibiotics detection have also been explored.