Detection and imaging of fatty plaques in blood vessels using functionalized carbon dots

The risk of developing atherosclerosis is proportional to the blood cholesterol level which in turn eventually leads to heart attack. Since a large number of asymptomatic young people have evidence of atherosclerosis, it is highly necessary to diagnose it at the earliest. This communication depicts a simple method to visualize cholesterol deposits using digitonin (DG) conjugated carbon dots (CDs). Physico-chemical characterization and preliminary blood compatibility evaluation of the functionalized CDs (CDDG) were successfully carried out. It is found that the probes could selectively bind cholesterol as evident from their ability to image cholesterol doped polymer films and tissues with heavy fatty plaques suspended in blood serum. An early visualization of cholesterol-rich plaques using fluorescent nanoprobes reported here may aid in the diagnosis of atherosclerosis and it seems that our finding may catalyze further developments in this imperative domain. The data that emerged from the study also indicate that the novel probe can be used for the selective detection of cholesterol in solution.