Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an untreatable neurodegenerative disease that initially manifests as difficulty to remember recent events and gradually progresses to cognitive impairment. The incidence of AD is growing yearly as life expectancy increases, thus early detection is essential to ensure a better quality of life for diagnosed patients. To reach that purpose, electrochemical biosensing has emerged as a cost-effective alternative to traditional diagnostic techniques, due to its high sensitivity and selectivity. Of special relevance is the incorporation of nanomaterials in biosensors, as they contribute to enhance electron transfer while promoting the immobilization of biological recognition elements. Moreover, nanomaterials have also been employed as labels, due to their unique electroactive and electrocatalytic properties. The aim of this review is to add value in the advances achieved in the detection of AD biomarkers, the strategies followed for the incorporation of nanomaterials and its effect in biosensors performance.

Magnetic nanoparticles have been largely proposed as means of technological tools due to its value in different fields, especially in biomedicine. Herein, we present a robust, highly reproducible and low-cost method to obtain superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles (MNP-II) of about 15±5 nm diameter by thermal decomposition of [Fe(acac)3] in a one-pot, two-step method. In the first step, magnetite nanoparticles (MNP-I) of lower size, 9±4 nm, with a saturation magnetization (MS) of 65 emu/g and a coercive field (Hc) of 1 Oe are obtained. In the second step, those particles MNP-I act as seeds for the final MNP-II which present a saturation magnetization of 70 emu/g and a coercive field of 12 Oe.

Aims: There are several candidate biomarkers for AD and PD which differ in sensitivity, specificity, cost-effectiveness, invasiveness, logistical and technical demands. This study is aimed to test whether plasma concentration of unfolded p53 may help to discriminate among the neurodegenerative processes occurring in Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's disease. Method: An electrochemical immunosensor was used to measure unfolded p53 in plasma samples of 20 Mild Cognitive Impairment (13 males/7 females; mean age 74.95±5.31), 20 Alzheimer’s (11 males/9 females; mean age: 77.25±7.79), 15 Parkinson’s disease patients (12 males/3 females; mean age: 68.60 ± 7.36) and its respective age/sex/studies-matched controls. Result: We observed a significantly higher concentration of unfolded p53 in the plasma of patients of each of the three pathologies with respect to their control groups (p=0.000). Furthermore, the plasma concentration of unfolded p53 was significantly higher in Alzheimer’s disease patients in comparison with Mild Cognitive Impairment patients (p=0.000) and Parkinson’s disease patients (p=0.006). No significant difference between Mild Cognitive Impairment and Parkinson’s disease patients was observed (p=0.524). Conclusion: Our results suggest that unfolded p53 concentration in the plasma may be a useful biomarker for an undergoing neuropathological process that may be common, albeit with a different intensity, to different diseases.

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