Preparation of responsive nano-adsorbent to near-infrared laser based on tungsten disulfide for bicalutamide extraction in human biological fluids

Bicalutamide (BLT), a non-steroidal anti-androgen, is widely used in patients with advanced prostate cancer. This study aimed to synthesize a smart modified nano-adsorbent (SMNA) based on tungsten disulfide (WS2) for solid-phase extraction of BLT from human plasma and urine samples. Briefly, we increased drug loading capacity of SMNA through the polymer grafting onto the WS2 nano-sheets. Specifically, poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) as a thermo-sensitive polymer was incorporated into the synthesized polymer networks. SMNA was characterized via TGA, XRD, FE-SEM and FT-IR techniques. The influential variables including pH (6), adsorption temperature (30°C), and contact time (10 min) were carefully optimized. After drug loading process, SMNA was exposed to 808 nm near-infrared light, the shrinkage of the thermo-sensitive polymer took place quickly and the loaded BLT released in a short time of laser irradiation. In the end, the extracted BLT was analyzed with RP-HPLC-UV system (at 270 nm wavelength). The proposed method provided favorable linearity in the range of 0.1–15 µg/mL (R2 ≥ 0.9998), the LOD and LOQ values were obtained 0.01 µg/mL and 0.04 µg/mL, respectively. The mean results of drug recovery (at the three different concentrations) of the spiked BLT in human plasma (92.08%) and urine (94.17%) were satisfactory.