Development of a semi-quantitative lateral flow immunoassay to classify the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in plasma

Rey Gomez, LM; Hirani, R; Inglis, DW; Care, A; Wang, Y

Development of a semi-quantitative lateral flow immunoassay to classify the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in plasma

Rey Gomez, LM Hirani, R Inglis, DW Care, A

Wang, Y

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Publisher:: ELSEVIER
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Sensing and Bio Sensing Research, 2025, 50
Issue Date:: 2025-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Rey Gomez, LM
dc.contributor.author	Hirani, R
dc.contributor.author	Inglis, DW
dc.contributor.author	Care, A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0035-7961
dc.contributor.author	Wang, Y
dc.date.accessioned	2026-01-08T00:30:07Z
dc.date.available	2026-01-08T00:30:07Z
dc.date.issued	2025-12-01
dc.identifier.citation	Sensing and Bio Sensing Research, 2025, 50
dc.identifier.issn	2214-1804
dc.identifier.issn	2214-1804
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/191477
dc.description.abstract	Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are versatile paper-based detection devices widely used for rapid on-site biomarker detection, yet they remain largely qualitative, which limits their utility in point-of-care (POC) settings. This study presents a colorimetric, semi-quantitative, and equipment-free LFIA format using a barcode-style design to categorize antibody levels as low, medium, or high. Using anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human plasma as a model, a multi-line assay was constructed with highly spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for improved sensitivity. The barcode-style LFIA demonstrated strong agreement with the validation method, with 90 % of results falling within ±1 category of the reference values. Additionally, the impact of AuNP morphology was investigated by comparing the assay performance with highly spherical (S), commercial (C), and quasi-spherical (Q) nanoparticles. While S-AuNPs improved the detection limit by two-fold in spiked plasma samples, all AuNP types performed comparably in clinical plasma. These results demonstrate a promising strategy for bridging the gap between qualitative and quantitative testing in low-resource or POC settings, enabling more informative readouts without the need for instrumentation.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ELSEVIER
dc.relation.ispartof	Sensing and Bio Sensing Research
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.sbsr.2025.100900
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0301 Analytical Chemistry
dc.subject.classification	3401 Analytical chemistry
dc.title	Development of a semi-quantitative lateral flow immunoassay to classify the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in plasma
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	50
utslib.for	0301 Analytical Chemistry
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Chancellor's Research Fellows
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2026-01-08T00:30:05Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	50

Abstract:

Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are versatile paper-based detection devices widely used for rapid on-site biomarker detection, yet they remain largely qualitative, which limits their utility in point-of-care (POC) settings. This study presents a colorimetric, semi-quantitative, and equipment-free LFIA format using a barcode-style design to categorize antibody levels as low, medium, or high. Using anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human plasma as a model, a multi-line assay was constructed with highly spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for improved sensitivity. The barcode-style LFIA demonstrated strong agreement with the validation method, with 90 % of results falling within ±1 category of the reference values. Additionally, the impact of AuNP morphology was investigated by comparing the assay performance with highly spherical (S), commercial (C), and quasi-spherical (Q) nanoparticles. While S-AuNPs improved the detection limit by two-fold in spiked plasma samples, all AuNP types performed comparably in clinical plasma. These results demonstrate a promising strategy for bridging the gap between qualitative and quantitative testing in low-resource or POC settings, enabling more informative readouts without the need for instrumentation.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/191477