{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T00:46:23Z","timestamp":1768437983706,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,22]],"date-time":"2017-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1495411200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Anxiety is a psychological problem that often emerges during the normal course of human life. The detection of anxiety often involves a physical exam and a self-reporting questionnaire. However, these approaches have limitations, as the data might lack reliability and consistency upon application to the same population over time. Furthermore, there might be varying understanding and interpretations of the particular question by the participant, which necessitating the approach of using biomarker-based measurement for stress diagnosis. The most prominent biomarker related to stress, hormone cortisol, plays a key role in the fight-or-flight situation, alters the immune response, and suppresses the digestive and the reproductive systems. We have taken the endeavour to review the available aptamer-based biosensor (aptasensor) for cortisol detection. The potential point-of-care diagnostic strategies that could be harnessed for the aptasensing of cortisol were also envisaged.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s17051180","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,23]],"date-time":"2017-05-23T01:47:33Z","timestamp":1495504053000},"page":"1180","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["Current and Potential Developments of Cortisol Aptasensing towards Point-of-Care Diagnostics (POTC)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Azrul","family":"Zainol Abidin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kangar, Perlis 01000, Malaysia"}]},{"given":"Ruslinda","family":"Rahim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kangar, Perlis 01000, Malaysia"}]},{"given":"Mohd","family":"Md Arshad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kangar, Perlis 01000, Malaysia"}]},{"given":"Mohd","family":"Fatin Nabilah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kangar, Perlis 01000, Malaysia"}]},{"given":"Chun","family":"Voon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kangar, Perlis 01000, Malaysia"}]},{"given":"Thean-Hock","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Medical &amp; Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kepala Batas, Penang 13200, Malaysia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5395-0040","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marimuthu","family":"Citartan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Medical &amp; Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kepala Batas, Penang 13200, Malaysia"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1016\/0272-4944(95)90001-2","article-title":"The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework","volume":"15","author":"Kaplan","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Environ. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Cacioppo, J.T., Tassinary, L.G., and Berntson, G. (2007). The Handbook of Psychophysiology, Cambridge University Press."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"801","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2011.09.012","article-title":"The relationships of working conditions, recent stressors and childhood trauma with salivary cortisol levels","volume":"37","author":"Holleman","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychoneuroendocrinology"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ygcen.2006.02.013","article-title":"Actions of glucocorticoids at a seasonal baseline as compared to stress-related levels in the regulation of periodic life processes","volume":"148","author":"Landys","year":"2006","journal-title":"Gen. Comp. Endocrinol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2435.12009","article-title":"Life history and the ecology of stress: How do glucocorticoid hormones in fl uence life-history variation in animals?","volume":"27","author":"Crespi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Funct. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2435.12039","article-title":"Ecological processes and the ecology of stress: The impacts of abiotic environmental factors","volume":"27","author":"Wingfield","year":"2013","journal-title":"Funct. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"151","article-title":"The Hypothalamic-Pituitary Adrenal Axis in Major Depressive Disorder: A Brief Primer for Primary Care Physicians Femina","volume":"3","author":"Varghese","year":"2001","journal-title":"Prim. Care Companion J. Clin. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"940","DOI":"10.1016\/S0006-3223(00)00896-9","article-title":"Initial posttraumatic urinary cortisol levels predict subsequent PTSD symptoms in motor vehicle accident victims","volume":"48","author":"Delahanty","year":"2000","journal-title":"Biol. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"1947","article-title":"Editorial: Cortisol, Cushing\u2019s syndrome, and a shrinking brain\u2014New evidence for reversibility","volume":"87","author":"McEwen","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"412","DOI":"10.1097\/00006842-200105000-00010","article-title":"Relationship among plasma cortisol, catecholamines, neuropeptide Y, and human performance during exposure to uncontrollable stress","volume":"63","author":"Morgan","year":"2001","journal-title":"Psychosom. Med."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"261","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-3956(01)00032-2","article-title":"Relationship of parental trauma exposure and PTSD to PTSD, depressive and anxiety disorders in offspring","volume":"35","author":"Yehuda","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Psychiatr. Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopsycho.2012.03.010","article-title":"Cortisol in hair, body mass index and stress-related measures","volume":"90","author":"Stalder","year":"2012","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"589","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2011.09.009","article-title":"Hair cortisol as a biological marker of chronic stress: Current status, future directions and unanswered questions","volume":"37","author":"Russell","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychoneuroendocrinology"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-4347(99)00059-6","article-title":"Hair analysis for abused and therapeutic drugs","volume":"733","author":"Nakahara","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Chromatogr. B Biomed. Sci. Appl."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"381","DOI":"10.1016\/S0379-0738(99)00180-2","article-title":"Identification of ten corticosteroids in human hair by liquid chromatography-ion spray mass spectrometry","volume":"1\u20133","author":"Cirimele","year":"2000","journal-title":"Forensic Sci. Int."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1105","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clinbiochem.2004.02.010","article-title":"Detection of physiological concentrations of cortisol and cortisone in human hair","volume":"37","author":"Raul","year":"2004","journal-title":"Clin. Biochem."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ygcen.2006.01.005","article-title":"Analysis of endogenous cortisol concentrations in the hair of rhesus macaques","volume":"147","author":"Davenport","year":"2006","journal-title":"Gen. Comp. Endocrinol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2008.08.024","article-title":"Hair as a retrospective calendar of cortisol production-Increased cortisol incorporation into hair in the third trimester of pregnancy","volume":"34","author":"Kirschbaum","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychoneuroendocrinology."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"438","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.01735-06","article-title":"Use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and dipstick assay for detection of Strongyloides stercoralis infection in humans","volume":"45","author":"Koelewijn","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Clin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2265.2005.02349.x","article-title":"Salivary cortisol determined by enzyme immunoassay is preferable to serum total cortisol for assessment of dynamic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity","volume":"63","author":"Gozansky","year":"2005","journal-title":"Clin. Endocrinol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1007\/s10695-007-9150-9","article-title":"Validation, use, and disadvantages of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits for detection of cortisol in channel catfish, largemouth bass, red pacu, and golden shiners","volume":"34","author":"Sink","year":"2008","journal-title":"Fish Physiol. Biochem."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"569","DOI":"10.1007\/s00216-008-2287-2","article-title":"Lateral flow (immuno)assay: Its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A literature survey","volume":"393","author":"Korf","year":"2009","journal-title":"Anal. Bioanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4382","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2011.04.045","article-title":"Label-free, chemiresistor immunosensor for stress biomarker cortisol in saliva","volume":"26","author":"Tlili","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7469","DOI":"10.1039\/C4AY01387E","article-title":"Highly sensitive and rapid sequential cortisol detection using twin sensor QCM","volume":"6","author":"Ito","year":"2014","journal-title":"Anal. Methods"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2151","DOI":"10.1007\/s00216-009-2914-6","article-title":"Surface plasmon resonance immunosensor for cortisol and cortisone determination","volume":"394","author":"Frasconi","year":"2009","journal-title":"Anal. Bioanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1941","DOI":"10.1039\/c0an00242a","article-title":"Antibody functionalized interdigitated \u03bc-electrode (ID\u03bcE) based impedimetric cortisol biosensor","volume":"135","author":"Arya","year":"2010","journal-title":"Analyst"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2011.07.015","article-title":"Polyaniline protected gold nanoparticles based mediator and label free electrochemical cortisol biosensor","volume":"28","author":"Arya","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"869","DOI":"10.1007\/s00442-011-1943-y","article-title":"Measuring stress in wildlife: Techniques for quantifying glucocorticoids","volume":"166","author":"Sheriff","year":"2011","journal-title":"Oecologia"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1007\/s00216-001-1189-3","article-title":"Aptasensors\u2014The future of biosensing?","volume":"372","year":"2002","journal-title":"Anal. Bioanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-1759(96)00213-X","article-title":"High-level secretion of two antibody single chain Fv fragments by Pichia pastoris","volume":"201","author":"Eldin","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Immunol. Methods"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"989","DOI":"10.1007\/s00216-007-1346-4","article-title":"Aptamers: Molecular tools for analytical applications","volume":"390","author":"Mairal","year":"2008","journal-title":"Anal. Bioanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"818","DOI":"10.1038\/346818a0","article-title":"In vitro selection of RNA molecules that bind specific ligands","volume":"346","author":"Ellington","year":"1990","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3075","DOI":"10.1021\/ac062151b","article-title":"Aptamer-conjugated nanoparticles for the collection and detection of multiple cancer cells","volume":"79","author":"Smith","year":"2007","journal-title":"Anal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4637","DOI":"10.1007\/s00216-014-7883-8","article-title":"Tunable stringency aptamer selection and gold nanoparticle assay for detection of cortisol","volume":"406","author":"Martin","year":"2014","journal-title":"Anal. Bioanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4771","DOI":"10.1021\/ja028962o","article-title":"Structure-switching signaling aptamers","volume":"125","author":"Nutiu","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsbmb.2014.10.013","article-title":"Aptamers targeting different functional groups of 17\u03b2-estradiol","volume":"147","author":"Vanschoenbeek","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415697","DOI":"10.1155\/2012\/415697","article-title":"Capture-SELEX: Selection of DNA aptamers for aminoglycoside antibiotics","volume":"2012","author":"Stoltenburg","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Anal. Methods Chem."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3737","DOI":"10.3390\/s140203737","article-title":"DNA-aptamers binding aminoglycoside antibiotics","volume":"14","author":"Nikolaus","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1016\/j.taap.2014.05.005","article-title":"Aconitine-induced Ca2+ overload causes arrhythmia and triggers apoptosis through p38 MAPK signaling pathway in rats","volume":"279","author":"Sun","year":"2014","journal-title":"Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5536","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bmcl.2015.10.056","article-title":"Aptamer selection for fishing of palladium ion using graphene oxide-adsorbed nanoparticles","volume":"25","author":"Cho","year":"2015","journal-title":"Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McKeague, M., and Derosa, M.C. (2012). Challenges and opportunities for small molecule aptamer development. J. Nucleic Acids, 2012.","DOI":"10.1155\/2012\/748913"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mee.2014.09.024","article-title":"Point-of-care testing (POCT) diagnostic systems using microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technologies","volume":"132","author":"Jung","year":"2014","journal-title":"Microelectron. Eng."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1191","DOI":"10.1039\/b800297e","article-title":"Silane-dextran chemistry on lateral flow polymer chips for immunoassays","volume":"8","author":"Aronsson","year":"2008","journal-title":"Lab Chip"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3157","DOI":"10.1039\/c0lc00132e","article-title":"A self-powered, one-step chip for rapid, quantitative and multiplexed detection of proteins from pinpricks of whole blood","volume":"10","author":"Wang","year":"2010","journal-title":"Lab Chip"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7644","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.analchem.5b00875","article-title":"Colorimetric Detection of Small Molecules in Complex Matrixes via Target-Mediated Growth of Aptamer-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles","volume":"87","author":"Soh","year":"2015","journal-title":"Anal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3943","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.200602256","article-title":"A gold nanoparticle-based aptamer target binding readout for ATP assay","volume":"19","author":"Wang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2593","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bmc.2015.02.052","article-title":"Structure-affinity relationship of the cocaine-binding aptamer with quinine derivatives","volume":"23","author":"Slavkovic","year":"2015","journal-title":"Bioorg. Med. Chem."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aca.2009.02.018","article-title":"Application and analysis of structure-switching aptamers for small molecule quantification","volume":"638","author":"Xie","year":"2009","journal-title":"Anal. Chim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_49","first-page":"e52545","article-title":"A method for selecting structure-switching aptamers applied to a colorimetric gold nanoparticle assay","volume":"96","author":"Martin","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Vis. Exp."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1016\/j.talanta.2013.12.062","article-title":"Colorimetric detection with aptamer-gold nanoparticle conjugates coupled to an android-based color analysis application for use in the field","volume":"121","author":"Smith","year":"2014","journal-title":"Talanta"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2015.11.044","article-title":"Aptamer-functionalized nanoparticles for surface immobilization-free electrochemical detection of cortisol in a microfluidic device","volume":"78","author":"Sanghavi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"230","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2015.04.041","article-title":"Replacing antibodies with aptamers in lateral flow immunoassay","volume":"71","author":"Chen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jchromb.2016.04.016","article-title":"An aptamer based lateral flow strip for on-site rapid detection of ochratoxin A in Astragalus membranaceus","volume":"1022","author":"Zhou","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Chromatogr. B Anal. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.32607\/20758251-2013-5-4-34-43","article-title":"Aptamers: Problems, solutions and prospects","volume":"5","author":"Lakhin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Acta Nat."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7133","DOI":"10.1021\/ja049275v","article-title":"Enzyme-catalyzed bio-pumping of electrons into Au-nanoparticles: A surface plasmon resonance and electrochemical study","volume":"126","author":"Lioubashevski","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15950","DOI":"10.1021\/ja044575y","article-title":"Polymer Brushes and Gold Nanoparticle Enhanced Transmission Surface Plasmon","volume":"126","author":"Tokareva","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Homola, J. (2006). Electromagnetic Theory of Surface Plasmons. Surface Plasmon Resonnance Based Sensors, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/b100321"},{"key":"ref_58","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"515","DOI":"10.1038\/nrd838","article-title":"Optical biosensors in drug discovery","volume":"1","author":"Cooper","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Drug Discov."},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"574","DOI":"10.1021\/jm700952v","article-title":"Surface plasmon resonance based assay for the detection and characterization of promiscuous inhibitors","volume":"51","author":"Giannetti","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Med. Chem."},{"key":"ref_60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14013","DOI":"10.1021\/ja075103x","article-title":"Biomolecular interaction monitoring of autoantibodies by scanning surface plasmon resonance microarray imaging","volume":"129","author":"Lokate","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"151","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bios.2007.07.001","article-title":"Towards integrated and sensitive surface plasmon resonance biosensors: A review of recent progress","volume":"23","author":"Hoa","year":"2007","journal-title":"Biosens. Bioelectron."},{"key":"ref_62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"462","DOI":"10.1021\/cr068107d","article-title":"Surface plasmon resonance sensors for detection of chemical and biological species","volume":"108","author":"Homola","year":"2008","journal-title":"Chem. Rev."},{"key":"ref_63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Goertz, J.P., and White, I.M. (2015, January 7\u20138). Smartphone-enabled filterless fluorescence assay utilizing the pyrene excimer. Proceedings of the Optics and Biophotonics in Low-Resource Settings, San Francisco, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1117\/12.2080225"}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/17\/5\/1180\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:36:35Z","timestamp":1760207795000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/17\/5\/1180"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,22]]},"references-count":63,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,5]]}},"alternative-id":["s17051180"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s17051180","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,22]]}}}