Application of molecularly imprinted polymers in the anti-doping field: sample purification and compound analysis

Novel dummy molecularly imprinted polymer for simultaneous solid-phase extraction of stanozolol metabolites from urine

Stanozolol, a synthetic derivative of testosterone, is one of the common doping drugs among athletes and bodybuilders. It is metabolized to a large extent and metabolites are detected in urine for a longer duration than the parent compound. In this study, a novel dummy molecularly imprinted polymer (DMIP) is developed as a sorbent for solid-phase extraction of stanozolol metabolites from spiked human urine samples. The optimized DMIP is composed of stanozolol as the dummy template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linker in a ratio of 1:10:80. The extracted analytes were quantitively determined using a newly developed and validated ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method, where the limits of detection and quantitation were 0.91 and 1.81 ng mL-1, respectively, fulfilling the minimum required performance limit decided on by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The mean percentage extraction recoveries for 3'-hydroxystanozolol, 4β-hydroxystanozolol, and 16β-hydroxystanozolol are 97.80% ± 13.80, 83.16% ± 7.50, and 69.98% ± 2.02, respectively. As such, the developed DMISPE can serve as an efficient cost-effective tool for doping and regulatory agencies for simultaneous clean-up of the stanozolol metabolites prior to their quantification.

Advances and perspectives in the analytical technology for small peptide hormones analysis: A glimpse to gonadorelin

In the last twenty years, we have witnessed an important evolution of bioanalytical approaches moving from conventional lab bench instrumentation to simpler, easy-to-use techniques to deliver analytical responses on-site, with reduced analysis times and costs. In this frame, affinity reagents production has also jointly advanced from natural receptors to biomimetic, abiotic receptors, animal-free produced. Among biomimetic ones, aptamers, and molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) play a leading role. Herein, our motivation is to provide insights into the evolution of conventional and innovative analytical approaches based on chromatography, immunochemistry, and affinity sensing referred to as peptide hormones. Indeed, the analysis of peptide hormones represents a current challenge for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and anti-doping analysis. Specifically, as a paradigmatic example, we report the case of gonadorelin, a neuropeptide that in recent years has drawn a lot of attention as a therapeutic drug misused in doping practices during sports competitions.

Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Sensors for SARS-CoV-2: Where Are We Now?

Since the first reported case of COVID-19 in 2019 in China and the official declaration from the World Health Organization in March 2021 as a pandemic, fast and accurate diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has played a major role worldwide. For this reason, various methods have been developed, comprising reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunoassays, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), and bio(mimetic)sensors. Among the developed methods, RT-PCR is so far the gold standard. Herein, we give an overview of the MIP-based sensors utilized since the beginning of the pandemic.

Molecular Boronic Acid-Based Saccharide Sensors

Boronic acids can reversibly bind diols, a molecular feature that is ubiquitous within saccharides, leading to their use in the design and implementation of sensors for numerous saccharide species. There is a growing understanding of the importance of saccharides in many biological processes and systems; while saccharide or carbohydrate sensing in medicine is most often associated with detection of glucose in diabetes patients, saccharides have proven to be relevant in a range of disease states. Herein the relevance of carbohydrate sensing for biomedical applications is explored, and this review seeks to outline how the complexity of saccharides presents a challenge for the development of selective sensors and describes efforts that have been made to understand the underpinning fluorescence and binding mechanisms of these systems, before outlining examples of how researchers have used this knowledge to develop ever more selective receptors.