Metal-based nanomaterials for laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry detection of small-molecule biomarkers in coronary artery disease and heart failure

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF) remain the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Small-molecule metabolites have emerged as promising biomarkers for CAD and HF management, yet their accurate and rapid detection in complex biological samples is challenging due to their low abundance. Laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) offers a powerful platform for metabolic analysis, but conventional organic matrices often generate strong background signals and exhibit limited reproducibility. Metal-based nanomaterials have recently emerged as potential alternative matrices of LDI-MS owing to their unique optical and physicochemical properties. This minireview summarizes recent advances in metal-based nanomaterials for LDI-MS toward the detection of small-molecule biomarkers in CAD and HF. Composition engineering strategies are discussed from single-component systems (noble metals and metal oxides) to multi-component nanocomposites noble metal-, metal oxide-, and metal-organic framework (MOF)-based materials, while structural design principles and their influence on LDI performance are highlighted. Furthermore, their applications in CAD and HF, including stable CAD, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and myocardial infarction (MI) within the CAD spectrum, are outlined, together with current challenges and future perspectives, and the potential for extending these approaches to other cardiovascular disorders.