Biofunctional 2D Graphitic Carbon Nitride-Hydrogel Heterointerfaces for Electrochemical Detection of Interleukin-6 toward Septic Cardiomyopathy Diagnostics in Clinical Biofluids

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine closely associated with sepsis progression and septic cardiomyopathy (SCM), a severe clinical condition characterized by acute cardiac dysfunction and high mortality in critically ill patients. Rapid and sensitive monitoring of IL-6 in clinical biofluids is therefore crucial for early diagnosis, disease prognosis, and timely therapeutic intervention in emergency healthcare settings. Herein, we report a biofunctional, label-free electrochemical aptasensor based on a graphitic carbon nitride-incorporated chitosan hydrogel-modified gold screen-printed electrode (MCH/Apt-IL-6/g-C3N4@CS/Au-SPE) for ultrasensitive detection of IL-6 in clinical biofluids. The electroactive g-C3N4@CS hydrogel heterointerface was engineered via electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged surface functionalities of two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and the protonated amino groups (-NH3+) of chitosan (CS), yielding a porous, conductive, and biocompatible sensing matrix with enhanced aptamer immobilization and accelerated electron-transfer kinetics. Biocompatibility evaluation using MTT assay and confocal fluorescence imaging demonstrated that the hydrogel maintained excellent cellular compatibility at 5 mg/mL, preserving normal cytoskeletal organization, mitochondrial integrity, and nuclear morphology, while higher concentrations induced cellular stress responses. Under optimized experimental conditions, the developed aptasensor exhibited outstanding analytical performance with an ultrawide linear detection range from 1 fg/mL to 10 ng/mL, a high sensitivity of 2.162 A/[log10(ng/mL)] cm-2, a low detection limit of 0.460 pg/mL, and excellent linearity (R2 = 0.979). In addition, the sensor demonstrated remarkable selectivity toward common biological interferents, including ascorbic acid, cysteine, glucose, glycine, and urea, together with excellent reproducibility (RSD = 1.139%). Validation studies performed in spiked human serum samples further confirmed the reliability and practical applicability of the proposed sensing platform for rapid clinical analysis. Owing to its label-free detection strategy, disposable electrode format, high sensitivity, and favorable biocompatibility, the developed g-C3N4-hydrogel heterointerface-based aptasensor represents a promising next-generation platform for early septic cardiomyopathy diagnostics, inflammatory biomarker monitoring, and point-of-care electrochemical biosensing applications.