Sastra research team bags Indian patent for their work on methylglyoxal

TRICHY: A research team from

Sastra Deemed University

has bagged Indian

patent

for developing an electrochemical biosensor for the rapid detection of

methylglyoxal

(MG).

While MG is a biomarker in detecting the onset of diabetes mellitus and related complications, its importance in identifying the prediabetic stages motivated one of the research teams at

SASTRA

Deemed University,

Thanjavur

, to carry out research.

Glucose has been considered the gold standard biomarker to correlate the various stages of diabetes - one of the most life-threatening metabolic disorders.

The research community is working on the identification of biomarkers which could help decode the main cause behind the onset of this dangerous metabolic disorder.

In this context, methylglyoxal (MG) has been considered one of the emerging biomarkers in detecting the onset of diabetes mellitus and related complications.

The two-member research team comprising John Bosco Balaguru Rayappan, Centre for Nanomaterials & Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB), school of electrical and electronics engineering and Srinivasan Vedantham, school of chemical and biotechnology developed an electrochemical biosensor for the rapid detection of MG in blood plasma samples and to correlate its concentration with diabetes.

“Sastra initially funded this work and applied for Indian patent titled ‘Development of enzyme-based nano interface electrochemical biosensor for the determination of methylglyoxal”, which was granted on June 10, 2021,” said

S Vaidhyasubramaniam

, vice-chancellor of the university.

Subsequently, a project proposal to carry out clinical studies to detect MG in diabetic and prediabetic subjects was sanctioned by the Science Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi.

After two years of investigation, the research team has completed the studies using the developed biosensor and validated the sensor performance concerning enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) data and submitted the report.

“As the results are encouraging, this sensor will be further developed in collaboration with the industry as a point of care device for the rapid detection of MG levels in blood plasma samples in turn to assess the prediabetic stage of diabetes,'' said the VC.