Could gold nanoparticles help detect liver injury with a blood test?

Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (both TX, USA) have shown how gold nanoparticles could, one day, help enable doctors to detect acute liver damage earlier than with current methods, using a simple blood test. Their results have been published in Science Advances. Currently, liver disease is most accurately diagnosed by liver biopsy, which is invasive and carries the risk of complications. Physicians can also monitor liver function using tests that detect enzymes including alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), which are released by hepatocytes, when the liver is...