Quantification of morphine in exhaled breath condensate using a double network polymeric hybrid hydrogel functionalized with AuNPs

Abstract Background Morphine serves as a foundation for creating other opioid derivatives, such as hydro/oxymorphine and heroin, which possess enhanced pain-relieving properties but are also prone to addiction and abuse. In cases of morphine overdose, it not only affects multiple immune functions but can also cause severe health complications. Given these concerns and the widespread use of morphine, it is crucial to develop efficient, uncomplicated, and precise methods for accurately detecting morphine in various biological and pharmaceutical samples. Results In this investigation, a novel gold nanoparticle (AuNPs)-based double network hydrogel (DNH) nanoprobe has been fabricated for sensitive quantification of morphine in exhaled breath condensate samples. For that, gelatin/agarose DNH was fabricated through a one-step heating-cooling method in the presence of AuNPs, providing not only chemical stability but also prevent the AuNPs aggregation during synthesis process. In this method, the absorbance intensity of the nanoprobe gradually decreased with increasing morphine concentration due to the interaction morphine with AuNPs surface plasmon. The aggregation of AuNPs by addition of morphine was verified by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The sensor displayed high sensitivity with detection limit of 0.006 µg.mL-1 in the linear range from 0.01 to 1.0 µg.mL-1. A reliable performance was attained for the spectrophotometric method for determination of morphine in the real samples.