Fullerene C60 modified gold electrode and nanogold modified indium tin oxide electrode for prednisolone determination

The electrochemical determination of prednisolone has been investigated at fullerene-C(60)-modified gold (C(60)/Au) electrode and gold nanoparticles modified indium tin oxide (nano Au/ITO) electrode in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) of pH 7.2. During oxidation of prednisolone, an anodic peak with peak potential (E(p)) at 570 mV and 400 mV appeared at nano Au/ITO and C(60)/Au electrode, respectively. The experimental results revealed that gold nanoparticles as well as fullerene (C(60)) promote the rate of prednisolone oxidation by increasing the peak current (i(p)) and oxidizing at lower peak potentials as compared to the respective bare electrodes due to their electrocatalytic effect. The linear concentration range at both the electrodes was in the range of 1 microM to 0.10 mM. The detection limit obtained at C(60)/Au electrode was 26 nM, while at nano Au/ITO electrode the detection limit was 90 nM. The applicability of the method to direct assays of human urine and whole blood sample is described to use the method for testing cases of doping by athletes.

Determination of methylprednisolone acetate in biological fluids at gold nanoparticles modified ITO electrode

The electrochemical behavior of a corticosteroid methylprednisolone (MP), used for doping, has been studied at gold nanoparticles modified indium tin oxide (nanoAu/ITO) electrode. The nanoAu/ITO electrode exhibited an effective catalytic response towards its oxidation and lowered its oxidation potential by approximately 127 mV when compared with bare ITO electrode. Oxidation of MP has been carried out in phosphate containing electrolyte in the pH range 2.13-10.00 and a well-defined oxidation peak was noticed. Linear concentration curves are obtained over the concentration range 0.01-1.0 microM with a detection limit of 2.68 x 10(-7)M at nanoAu/ITO electrode. A diffusion coefficient of 2.36 x 10(-6)cm(2)/s is calculated for MP using chronoamperometry. The proposed method is effectively applied to detect the concentration of MP in pharmaceutical formulations and human blood plasma and urine samples. A comparison of MP concentration determined in blood plasma and urine by the proposed method and GC/MS indicated that the results are essentially similar. It is believed that the method will be useful in determining this drug in case of doping.

Fullerene-C60-modified electrode as a sensitive voltammetric sensor for detection of nandrolone—An anabolic steroid used in doping

The electrochemical behaviour of nandrolone is investigated by cyclic, differential pulse and square-wave voltammetry in phosphate buffer system at fullerene-C60-modified electrode. The modified electrode shows an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of nandrolone resulting in a marked lowering in the peak potential and considerable improvement of the peak current as compared to the electrochemical activity at the bare glassy carbon electrode. The oxidation process is shown to be irreversible and diffusion-controlled. A linear range of 50 microM to 0.1 nM is obtained along with a detection limit and sensitivity of 0.42 nM and 0.358 nA nM(-1), respectively, in square-wave voltammetric technique. A diffusion coefficient of 4.13x10(-8) cm2 s(-1) was found for nandrolone using chronoamperometry. The effect of interferents, stability and reproducibility of the proposed method were also studied. The described method was successfully employed for the determination of nandrolone in human serum and urine samples. A cross-validation of observed results by GC-MS indicates that the results are in good agreement with each other.