Portable
Diagnosis Method of Hyperkalemia Using Potassium-Recognizable
Poly(<i>N</i>‑isopropylacrylamide-<i>co</i>-benzo-15-crown-5-acrylamide) Copolymers
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Abstract
A novel,
simple, portable, and low-cost method for diagnosis of
hyperkalemia by using K<sup>+</sup>-recognizable poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide-<i>co</i>-benzo-15-crown-5-acrylamide)
[poly(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-B15C5Am)] linear copolymer as indicator
is presented in this work. The pendent 15-crown-5 units in the linear
copolymers can selectively and specifically recognize K<sup>+</sup> to form stable 2:1 “sandwich” host–guest complexes,
which cause the copolymer chains to change from the hydrophilic state
to the hydrophobic state isothermally, whereas other tested metal
ions (e.g., Li<sup>+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup>, Cs<sup>+</sup>, Mg<sup>2+</sup>, Ca<sup>2+</sup>, Sr<sup>2+</sup>, Ba<sup>2+</sup>, Cu<sup>2+</sup>, Fe<sup>3+</sup>, Pb<sup>2+</sup>, Cd<sup>2+</sup>, Cr<sup>3+</sup>) cannot be recognized. With increasing the 15-crown-5 content
or the K<sup>+</sup> concentration, the poly(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-B15C5Am) linear copolymers exhibit higher sensitivity to K<sup>+</sup>. The hyperkalemia can be simply diagnosed by observing the K<sup>+</sup>-induced optical transmittance change of human blood samples
with poly(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-B15C5Am) linear copolymer as an
indicator. Normal blood samples with low potassium level containing
the poly(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-B15C5Am) linear copolymer are almost
transparent since the copolymer is hydrophilic and soluble at the
operating temperature. However, severe hyperkalemia samples with high
potassium level become completely cloudy since the copolymer is hydrophobic
and insoluble at this temperature. The presented diagnosis method
with poly(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-B15C5Am) linear copolymer as indicator
is quite simple and low-cost, and it would bring a new candidate material
to design simple and portable tools for diagnosis of hyperkalemia
in the general population. Moreover, the results in this work provide
valuable guidance for building novel poly(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-B15C5Am)-based artificial K<sup>+</sup>-recognizable “smart”
or “intelligent” systems in various application fields