Electrochemical and quantum chemical studies of cetylpyridinium bromide modified carbon electrode interface for sensor applications

Digital biomarkers in Parkinson's disease

Digital biomarker (DB) assessments provide objective measures of daily life tasks and thus hold promise to improve diagnosis and monitoring of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients especially those with advanced stages. Data from DB studies can be used in advanced analytics such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to improve monitoring, treatment and outcomes. Although early development of inertial sensors as accelerometers and gyroscopes in smartphones provided encouraging results, the use of DB remains limited due to lack of standards, harmonization and consensus for analytical as well as clinical validation. Accordingly, a number of clinical trials have been developed to evaluate the performance of DB vs traditional assessment tools with the goal of monitoring disease progression, improving quality of life and outcomes. Herein, we update current evidence on the use of DB in PD and highlight potential benefits and limitations and provide suggestions for future research study.

Electrochemical Ultrasensitive Sensing of Uric Acid on Non-Enzymatic Porous Cobalt Oxide Nanosheets-Based Sensor

Transition metal oxide (TMO)-based nanomaterials are effectively utilized to fabricate clinically useful ultra-sensitive sensors. Different nanostructured nanomaterials of TMO have attracted a lot of interest from researchers for diverse applications. Herein, we utilized a hydrothermal method to develop porous nanosheets of cobalt oxide. This synthesis method is simple and low temperature-based. The morphology of the porous nanosheets like cobalt oxide was investigated in detail using FESEM and TEM. The morphological investigation confirmed the successful formation of the porous nanosheet-like nanostructure. The crystal characteristic of porous cobalt oxide nanosheets was evaluated by XRD analysis, which confirmed the crystallinity of as-synthesized cobalt oxide nanosheets. The uric acid sensor fabrication involves the fixing of porous cobalt oxide nanosheets onto the GCE (glassy carbon electrode). The non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing was measured using CV and DPV analysis. The application of DPV technique during electrochemical testing for uric acid resulted in ultra-high sensitivity (3566.5 µAmM^-1cm^-2), which is ~7.58 times better than CV-based sensitivity (470.4 µAmM^-1cm^-2). Additionally, uric acid sensors were tested for their selectivity and storage ability. The applicability of the uric acid sensors was tested in the serum sample through standard addition and recovery of known uric acid concentration. This ultrasensitive nature of porous cobalt oxide nanosheets could be utilized to realize the sensing of other biomolecules.

N-Methylfulleropyrrolidine-Based Multimode Sensor for Determination of Butoconazole Nitrate

A multimode sensor (a sensor responding simultaneously to more than one mode, e.g., stochastic mode, amperometric mode, voltammetric mode) based on graphite paste modified with N-methylfulleropyrrolidine was proposed for the determination of butoconazole nitrate in its pharmaceutical formulation. The stochastic mode and square wave voltammetry mode were applied for the determinations. Both the stochastic mode and square wave voltammetry mode were applied for a qualitative and quantitative assay of butoconazole nitrate. The sensor can be used between 1.68 × 10^-6 and 1.68 × 10⁴ μmol L^-1 when the stochastic mode is used and between 0.168 and 16.80 μmol L^-1 when the square wave voltammetry mode is used. The multimode sensor was reliably used for the determination of butoconazole nitrate in its pharmaceutical formulation, Gynofort cream, the recorded recoveries being higher than 99.00%, with RSD (%) values of lower than 2.00%.

Electrochemical Detection of Dihydroxybenzene Isomers at a Pencil Graphite Based Electrode

In this work, an HB pencil electrode (HBPE) was electrochemically modified by amino acids (AAs) glycine (GLY) and aspartic acid (ASA) and designated as GLY-HB and ASA-HB electrodes. They were used in the detection of dihydroxybenzene isomers (DHBIs) such as hydroquinone (HQ), catechol (CC), and resorcinol (RS), by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and by differential pulse voltammetry. HBPE was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. These three electrodes showed a linear relationship of current with concentration of DHBIs, and the electrochemical processes were diffusion controlled in all cases. In simultaneous detection, the limit of detection, based on signal-to-noise ratio (S/N = 3), for HQ, CC, and RS was 12.473, 16.132, and 25.25 μM, respectively, at bare HBPE; 5.498, 7.119, and 14.794 μM, respectively, at GLY-HB; and 22.459, 25.478, and 38.303 μM, respectively, at ASA-HB. The sensitivity for HQ, CC, and RS was 470.481, 363.781, and 232.416 μA/mM/cm², respectively, at bare HBPE; 364.785, 282.712, and 135.560 μA/mM/cm², respectively, at GLY-HB; and 374.483, 330.108, and 219.574, respectively, at ASA-HB. The interference studies clarified the suitability and reliability of the electrodes for the detection of HQ, CC, and RS in an environmental system. Real sample analysis was done using tap water, and the proposed electrodes expressed recovery with high reproducibility. Meanwhile, these three electrodes have excellent sensitivity and selectivity, which can be used as a promising technique for the detection of DHBIs simultaneously.

Promising protein biomarkers in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an insidious, multifactorial disease that involves the devastation of neurons leading to cognitive impairments. Alzheimer's have compounded pathologies of diverse nature, including proteins as one important factor along with mutated genes and enzymes. Although various review articles have proposed biomarkers, still, the statistical importance of proteins is missing. Proteins associated with AD include amyloid precursor protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein, calmodulin-like skin protein, hepatocyte growth factor, matrix Metalloproteinase-2. These proteins play a crucial role in the AD hypothesis which includes the tau hypothesis, amyloid-beta (Aβ) hypothesis, cholinergic neuron damage, etc. The present review highlights the role of major proteins and their physiological functions in the early diagnosis of AD. Altered protein expression results in cognitive impairment, synaptic dysfunction, neuronal degradation, and memory loss. On the medicinal ground, efforts of making anti-amyloid, anti-tau, anti-inflammatory treatments are on the peak, having these proteins as putative targets. Few proteins, e.g., Amyloid precursor protein results in the formation of non-soluble sticky Aβ₄₀ and Aβ₄₂ monomers that, over time, aggregate into plaques in the cortical and limbic brain areas and neurogranin is believed to regulate calcium-mediated signaling pathways and thus modulating synaptic plasticity are few putative and potential forthcoming targets for developing effective anti-AD therapies. These proteins may help to diagnose the disease early, bode well for the successful discovery and development of therapeutic and preventative regimens for this devasting public health problem.

Voltammetric Determination of Ascorbic Acid Content in Cabbage Using Anthraquinone Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

In this study, a low-cost, sensitive, and efficient voltammetric method based on anthraquinone modified carbon paste electrode was developed for determination of ascorbic acid in cabbage samples. After cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of ascorbic acid and to study dependence of oxidative peak current on scan rate and pH, square wave voltammetric method was developed for direct determination of ascorbic acid in cabbage samples. In contrast to the unmodified carbon paste electrode, a remarkable enhancement in oxidative peak current at anthraquinone modified carbon paste electrode confirmed electrocatalytic property of the modifier towards oxidation of ascorbic acid. A better correlation coefficient for the dependence of peak current on the square root of scan rate ( $R^2=0.9963$ ) than on the scan rate ( $R^2=0.9781$ ) indicated that the oxidation of ascorbic acid at anthraquinone modified carbon paste electrode is predominantly governed by diffusion-controlled process. Square wave amplitude, square wave step potential, and square wave frequency are optimized for the investigation of AA in cabbage. The optimized values are 30 mV, 7 mV, and 35 Hz, respectively. Under the optimized method and solution parameters, an excellent linear response was observed between square wave voltammetric peak current of AQMCPE and concentration of ascorbic acid in the range $5\times {10}^{-5}$ to $4\times {10}^{-3}$  M with a better correlation coefficient ( $R^2=0.9993$ ) and detection limit ( $\text{LOD}=1.84\times {10}^{-6}$  M). The ascorbic acid content of the three cabbage samples from three different cabbage growing areas was found in the range $3.686\pm 0.026$ – $8.298\pm 0.011$  mg/g of powdered cabbage. Excellent recovery results between 95.042 and 96.139% for spiked ascorbic acid in cabbage samples confirmed the potential applicability of the developed method based on AQMCPE for the determination of ascorbic acid in real samples like cabbage.

An experimental and theoretical approach to electrochemical sensing of environmentally hazardous dihydroxy benzene isomers at polysorbate modified carbon paste electrode

It is well known that, surfactants provide a neutral, positive and/or negative charge on the electrode surface by forming a monolayer, which in turn affects the charge transfer and redox potential during the electroanalysis process. However, the molecular level understanding of these surfactant-modified electrodes is worth investigating because the interaction of the analyte with the electrode surface is still unclear. In this report, we used quantum chemical models based on computational density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the polysorbate 80 structure as well as the locations of energy levels and electron transfer sites. Later, the bare carbon paste electrode (bare/CPE) was modified with polysorbate 80 and used to resolve the overlapped oxidation signals of dihydroxy benzene isomers. The m/n values obtained at polysorbate/CPE was approximately equal to 1, signifying the transfer of same number of protons and electrons. Moreover, the analytical applicability of the modified electrode for the determination of catechol (CC) and hydroquinone (HQ) in tap water samples gave an acceptable recovery result. Overall, the application of DFT to understand the molecular level interaction of modifiers for sensing applications laid a new foundation for fabricating electrochemical sensors.

Wearable Electrochemical Sensors in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with widespread aggregation of α-synuclein and dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta. As a result, striatal dopaminergic denervation leads to functional changes in the cortico-basal-ganglia-thalamo-cortical loop, which in turn cause most of the parkinsonian signs and symptoms. Despite tremendous advances in the field in the last two decades, the overall management (i.e., diagnosis and follow-up) of patients with PD remains largely based on clinical procedures. Accordingly, a relevant advance in the field would require the development of innovative biomarkers for PD. Recently, the development of miniaturized electrochemical sensors has opened new opportunities in the clinical management of PD thanks to wearable devices able to detect specific biological molecules from various body fluids. We here first summarize the main wearable electrochemical technologies currently available and their possible use as medical devices. Then, we critically discuss the possible strengths and weaknesses of wearable electrochemical devices in the management of chronic diseases including PD. Finally, we speculate about possible future applications of wearable electrochemical sensors in PD, such as the attractive opportunity for personalized closed-loop therapeutic approaches.

Electrocatalytic Determination of Hydroxychloroquine Using Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Modified Carbon Nanotube Paste Electrode

Selective, sensitive, easy, and fast voltammetric techniques were developed for the analysis of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). These analysis were carried out at sodium dodecyl sulphate modified carbon nanotube paste electrode (SDSMCNTPE) using an aqueous 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution as supporting electrolyte. The field emission-scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used for material characterization. A minute quantity of the SDS surfactant was sufficient to convey an outstanding electrocatalytic action to the electrochemical oxidation nature of HCQ. The HCQ molecule parades only electrochemical oxidation (irreversible) with the transfer of two electrons. The detection of HCQ was carried out through CV method at SDSMCNTPE and bare carbon nanotube paste electrode (BCNTPE). The corresponding analytical curve offered a decent linear nature in the considered HCQ concentration range (10-40 µM) and the detection limit was found to be 0.85 µM. The significant peak to peak split-up was observed between HCQ and interferents with a decent sensitivity and stability. The SDSMCNTPE to be an approachable electrode for the usage in the examination of HCQ independently and in the presence of paracetamol (PC) and ascorbic acid (AA). Thus, they were used to determine HCQ in pharmaceutical formulations and the results that showed good agreement with comparative methods. Furthermore, a mechanism for HCQ electro-oxidation was proposed.

Quantum Chemical Studies and Electrochemical Investigations of Polymerized Brilliant Blue-Modified Carbon Paste Electrode for In Vitro Sensing of Pharmaceutical Samples

To develop an electrochemical sensor for electroactive molecules, the choice and prediction of redox reactive sites of the modifier play a critical role in establishing the sensing mediating mechanism. Therefore, to understand the mediating mechanism of the modifier, we used advanced density functional theory (DFT)-based quantum chemical modeling. A carbon paste electrode (CPE) was modified with electropolymerization of brilliant blue, later employed for the detection of paracetamol (PA) and folic acid (FA). PA is an analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic prescription commonly used in medical fields, and overdose or prolonged use may harm the liver and kidney. The deficiency of FA associated with neural tube defects (NTDs) and therefore the quantification of FA are very essential to prevent the problems associated with congenital deformities of the spinal column, skull and brain of the fetus in pregnant women. Hence, an electrochemical sensor based on a polymerized brilliant blue-modified carbon paste working electrode (BRB/CPE) was fabricated for the quantification of PA and FA in physiological pH. The real analytical applicability of the proposed sensor was judged by employing it in analysis of a pharmaceutical sample, and good recovery results were obtained. The potential excipients do not have a significant contribution to the electro-oxidation of PA at BRB/CPE, which makes it a promising electrochemical sensing platform. The real analytical applicability of the proposed method is valid for pharmaceutical analysis in the presence of possible excipients. The prediction of redox reactive sites of the modifier by advanced quantum chemical modeling-based DFT may lay a new foundation for researchers to establish the modifier–analyte interaction mechanisms.