The electrochemical quantitation method for sugammadex via a molecularly imprinted polymer-based sensor

Sugammadex (SUG) is a synthetically modified γ-cyclodextrin derivative used in hospitals after surgeries to reverse the neuromuscular blockade induced by rocuronium or vecuronium. In this study, we aimed to develop the first electroanalytical quantification method for sugammadex by using molecular imprinting (MIP) via the electropolymerization (EP) technique. An EP-MIP film was formed by EP on a screen-printed gold electrode (SPAuE) and a new electrochemical sensor, EP-MIP(SUG)/SPAuE, was fabricated using the 4-aminophenol monomer with copper ions to enhance the MIP-binding site. Surface and electrochemical characterization of the EP-MIP(SUG)/SPAuE sensor have been done via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). After screening and optimization studies were carried out to fabricate a MIP-based electrochemical sensor, the analytical performance of EP-MIP(SUG)/SPAuE and the validation parameters were tested according to the ICH guidelines. The specificity/selectivity of the developed sensor has been shown by using common interferents found in the biological fluids and also molecules having similar structures, such as α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin. As a result, a quantitative analysis method has been developed and validated by using the EP-MIP(SUG)/SPAuE sensor in the concentration range of 0.1-1.0 pM with very high sensitivity (limit of detection: 27.3 fM). The applicability of the method has been shown for bulk drug substances, pharmaceutical dosage forms, and commercial serum samples with good recovery and RSD% results. The EP-MIP(SUG)/SPAuE is the first electrochemical sensor developed for the determination of sugammadex serving the aims of simplicity, short analysis time, and low cost, and has the potential to be adapted in the future as a portable and/or wearable sensor via miniaturization.

Approaches and Challenges for Biosensors for Acute and Chronic Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) is a cardiovascular disease defined by several symptoms that occur when the heart cannot supply the blood needed by the tissues. HF, which affects approximately 64 million people worldwide and whose incidence and prevalence are increasing, has an important place in terms of public health and healthcare costs. Therefore, developing and enhancing diagnostic and prognostic sensors is an urgent need. Using various biomarkers for this purpose is a significant breakthrough. It is possible to classify the biomarkers used in HF: associated with myocardial and vascular stretch (B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal proBNP and troponin), related to neurohormonal pathways (aldosterone and plasma renin activity), and associated with myocardial fibrosis and hypertrophy (soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 and galactin 3). There is an increasing demand for the design of fast, portable, and low-cost biosensing devices for the biomarkers related to HF. Biosensors play a significant role in early diagnosis as an alternative to time-consuming and expensive laboratory analysis. In this review, the most influential and novel biosensor applications for acute and chronic HF will be discussed in detail. These studies will be evaluated in terms of advantages, disadvantages, sensitivity, applicability, user-friendliness, etc.

Ultrasensitive Determination of Glial-Fibrillary-Acidic-Protein (GFAP) in Human Serum-Matrix with a Label-Free Impedimetric Immunosensor

In this work, immobilizing anti-GFAP antibodies via covalent attachment onto L-cysteine/gold nanoparticles that were modified with screen-printed carbon electrodes (Anti-GFAP/L-cys/AuNps/SPCE) resulted in the development of a sensitive label-free impedance immunosensor for the detection of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP). The immunosensor's stepwise construction was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). L-cysteine was chosen as the linker between GFAP antibodies and Au NPs/SPCE because it enables the guided and stable immobilization of GFAP antibodies, thus resulting in increased immunosensor sensitivity. As a redox probe, 5 mM of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- was used to measure the electron-transfer resistance (Ret), which was raised by the binding of antigens to the immobilized anti-GFAP on the surface of the modified electrode. A linear correlation between Rct and GFAP concentration was achieved under optimum conditions in the range of 1.0-1000.0 pg/mL, with an extraordinarily low detection limit of 51.0 fg/mL. The suggested immunosensor was successfully used to detect the presence of GFAP in human blood serum samples, yielding good findings. As a result, the proposed platform may be utilized to monitor central nervous system injuries.

Rapid and Sensitive Electrochemical Assay of Cefditoren with MWCNT/Chitosan NCs/Fe2O3 as a Nanosensor

In this research, a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified by MWCNT/chitosan NCs/Fe₂O₃ was prepared for the determination of the cephalosporin antibiotic cefditoren (CFT) using adsorptive stripping differential pulse and cyclic voltammetry techniques. The effects of pH, the scan rate, the deposition potential, the accumulation time, and modification agents on the determination of CFT were analyzed. The results showed that the modified electrode significantly increased the oxidation peak current of CFT. Under optimized conditions, the MWCNT/chitosan NCs/Fe₂O₃/GCE nanosensor exhibited a linear response between 0.2 µM and 10 µM toward CFT. The limit of detection and quantification were determined to be 1.65 nM and 5.50 nM, respectively. Model drugs (cefdinir, cefpodoxime, cephalexin, and ceftazidime compounds) were used to enlighten the CFT oxidation mechanism. Moreover, the nanosensor was used to analyze CFT in a pharmaceutical dosage form and commercial deproteinated human serum samples. The accuracy of these methods was proven in the recovery studies, with values of 96.98 and 98.62% for the pharmaceutical dosage form and commercial deproteinated human serum sample, respectively.

Carbon Nanomaterials-Based Novel Hybrid Platforms for Electrochemical Sensor Applications in Drug Analysis

Nowadays, the rapid improvements in the medical and pharmaceutical fields increase the diversity and use of drugs. However, problems such as the use of multiple or combined drugs in the treatment of diseases and insensible use of over-the-counter drugs have caused concerns about the side-effect profiles and therapeutic ranges of drugs and environmental contamination and pollution problems due to pharmaceuticals waste. Therefore, the analysis of drugs in various media such as biological, pharmaceutical, and environmental samples is an important topic of discussion. Electrochemical methods are advantageous for sensor applications due to their easy application, low cost, versatility, high sensitivity, and environmentally-friendliness. Carbon nanomaterials such as diamond-like carbon thin films, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, graphene oxide, and nanodiamonds are used to enhance the performance of the electrochemical sensors with catalytic effects. To further improve this effect, it is aimed to create hybrid platforms by using different carbon nanomaterials together or with materials such as conductive polymers and ionic liquids. In this review, the most used carbon nanoforms will be evaluated in terms of electrochemical characterizations and physicochemical properties. Furthermore, the effect of hybrid platforms developed in the most recent studies on electrochemical sensors will be examined and evaluated in terms of drug analysis studies in the last five years.

Novel Sensor Approaches of Aflatoxins Determination in Food and Beverage Samples

The rapid quantification of toxins in food and beverage products has become a significant issue in overcoming and preventing many life-threatening diseases. Aflatoxin-contaminated food is one of the reasons for primary liver cancer and induces some tumors and cancer types. Advancements in biosensors technology have brought out different analysis methods. Therefore, the sensing performance has been improved for agricultural and beverage industries or food control processes. Nanomaterials are widely used for the enhancement of sensing performance. The enzymes, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP), antibodies, and aptamers can be used as biorecognition elements. The transducer part of the biosensor can be selected, such as optical, electrochemical, and mass-based. This review explains the classification of major types of aflatoxins, the importance of nanomaterials, electrochemical, optical biosensors, and QCM and their applications for the determination of aflatoxins.

New analytical strategies Amplified with 2D carbon nanomaterials for electrochemical sensing of food pollutants in water and soils sources

Pharmaceutical and food pollutants have threatened global health. Pharmacotherapy has left a positive impression in the field of health and life of people and animals. However, the many unresolved problems brought along with residues of pharmaceuticals in the environmental and food. Consumption of the world's freshwater resources, toxic chemicals, air pollution, plastic waste directly affects water and soil resources. Pesticides have a wide role in pollutants. Therefore, the determination of pesticides is significant to eliminate their negative effects on living things. Nowadays, there are many analytical methods available. However, new analysis methods are still being researched due to certain limitations of traditional methods. Electrochemical sensors have drawn attention because of their superior properties, such as short analysis time, affordability, high sensitivity, and selectivity. The development of new analytical strategies for assessing risks from pharmaceutical to food pollutants in water and soil sources is important for the measurement of different pollutants. Moreover, the 2D-carbon nanomaterials used in the development of electrochemical sensors are widely utilized to enlarge the surface area, increase porosity, and make easy immobilization. Graphene (graphene derivations) and carbon nanotubes integrated nanosensors are widely used for the determination of pesticides. 2D-carbon nanomaterials can be tailored according to the purpose of the study. The characterization and synthesis methods of 2D-carbon nanomaterials are widely explained. Furthermore, enzyme nanobiosensors, especially Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), are widely used to determine pesticides. The three main topics are focused on in this review: 2D-carbon nanomaterials, pesticides that threaten life, and the application of 2D-carbon nanomaterials-based electrochemical sensors. The various developed 2D-carbon nanomaterials-based electrochemical sensors were applied in pharmaceutical forms, fruits, tap/lake water, beverages, and soils sources. This work aims to indicate the recently published paper related to pesticide analysis and highlight the importance of 2D-nanomaterials on sensors.

Carbon Dots in the Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria and Viruses

Bacterial and viruses pathogens are a significant hazard to human safety and health. In the imaging and detection of pathogenic microorganisms, the application of fluorescent nanoparticles is very useful. Carbon dots and quantum dots are preferred in this regard as labels, amplifiers, and/or electrode modifiers because of their outstanding features. However, precise diagnostics to identify numerous harmful bacteria simultaneously still face considerable hurdles, yet it is an inevitable issue. With the growing development of biosensors, nanoproduct-based bio-sensing has recently become one of the most promising methods for accurately identifying and quantifying various pathogens at low cost, high sensitivity, and selectivity, with time savings. The most recent applications of carbon dots in optical and electrochemical-based sensors are discussed in this review, along with some examples of pathogen sensors.HighlightsSimultaneous and early detection of pathogens is a critical issue in the management of readily spread to prevent epidemics.Carbon dots-based biosensors are more preferred in detection of pathogens due to high selectivity and sensitivity, as well as quick and cheap point-of-care platform.Summary of recent advances in the design of optical and electrochemical biosensors for the detection of pathogens.

A porous molecularly imprinted nanofilm for selective and sensitive sensing of an anticancer drug ruxolitinib

A novel methodology has been applied to generate a porous molecularly imprinted material for highly selective and sensitive recognition of Janus kinase inhibitor ruxolitinib (RUX). The porous material-based nucleobase-derivative functional monomer was developed by a photopolymerization method. The thymine methacrylate (ThyM) as a functional monomer was synthesized and copolymerized with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) in the presence of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) onto the glassy carbon electrode [glassy carbon electrode/molecularly imprinted polymer@poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-thymine methacrylate), (GCE/MIP@PHEMA-ThyM)] for the first time. The presence of ThyM results in the functional groups in imprinting binding sites, while the presence of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) allows to generate porous materials for sensitive sensing. The characterization of GCE/MIP@PHEMA-ThyM was investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and impedance spectroscopy technique. Then, the porous MIP modified glassy carbon electrode was optimized with effecting parameters including removal agent, removal time, and incubation time to get a better response for RUX. Under well-controlled optimum conditions, the GCE/MIP@PHEMA-ThyM linearly responded to the RUX concentration up to 0.01 pM at the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.00191 pM. The non-imprinted polymer (NIP) was also prepared to serve as a control in the same way but without the template. The proposed method improves the accessibility of binding sites by generating the porous material resulting in highly selective and sensitive recognition of drugs in the pharmaceutical dosage form and synthetic human serum samples.

Nanoparticles and Nanostructured Films with TGF-β3: Preparation, Characterization, and Efficacy

TGF-β3 has been reported to have a strong therapeutic efficacy in wound healing when externally administered, but TGF-β3's active form is rapidly metabolized and removed from the body. Therefore, a drug delivery system that can provide a new non-toxic and an effective treatment that could be locally applied and also be able to protect the stability of the protein and provide controlled release is required. The aim of the study is to prepare and characterize nanoparticles and nanostructured films with TGF-β3 and to evaluate in vitro cytotoxicity of the loaded nanoparticles. PCL-based films containing TGF-β3 or TGF-β3-loaded PLGA nanoparticles were prepared with non-toxic modified solvent displacement method. The particle size and protein loading efficiency of TGF-β3-loaded PLGA nanoparticles were 204.9 ± 10.3 nm and 42.42 ± 2.03%, respectively. In vitro release studies of TGF-β3-loaded PLGA nanoparticle formulations revealed that the protein was completely released from the nanoparticles at the end of 24 h. In vitro release profile of film formulation containing TGF-β3-loaded nanoparticles was similar. TGF-β3 released from nanoparticles do not have a significant effect on proliferation of HepG2 cells demonstrating their biocompatibility. Additionally, prepared films were tested with in vivo wound healing mouse model and showed to heal significantly faster and with improved scarring. PCL films loaded with TGF-β3 or TGF-β3 nanoparticles prepared in this study may be an effective treatment approach for wound healing therapy after injury.

A molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on highly selective and an ultra-trace assay of anti-cancer drug axitinib in its dosage form and biological samples

In this study, a novel, fast, selective, and sensitive molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based electrochemical sensor was developed to determine axitinib (AXI) at low concentrations in pharmaceutical dosage forms and human serum. The newly developed MIP-based sensor (MIP@o-PD/GCE) was designed through electropolymerization of functional monomer o-phenylenediamine (o-PD) in the presence of a template molecule AXI, on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using cyclic voltammetry. Differential pulse voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were employed for removal and rebinding processes, optimization of conditions, as well as for performance evaluation of MIP@o-PD/GCE using [Fe(CN)₆]^3-/4- as the redox probe. Under the optimum experimental conditions, MIP@o-PD/GCE shows a linear response toward AXI in a range of 1 × 10^-13 M - 1 × 10^-12 M. The limit of the detection value of MIP@o-PD/GCE was found as 0.027 pM while the limit of the quantification was obtained as 0.089 pM, respectively. To demonstrate the applicability and validity of the developed sensor, it was successfully applied to tablet dosage form and human serum sample. The selectivity of the sensor was qualified by comparing the binding of AXI, erlotinib, dasatinib, nilotinib, and imatinib, which are similarly structured and in the same group of anticancer drugs. MIP@o-PD/GCE sensor showed a significant selectivity toward AXI. The non-imprinted polymer (NIP) based GCE was prepared and used to control the analytical performance of the MIP-based electrochemical sensor.

Magnetic nanoparticles in developing electrochemical sensors for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications

A revolutionary impact on the pharmaceutical and biomedical applications has been arisen in the few years to come as a result of the advances made in magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) research. The use of MNPs opens wide opportunities in diagnostics, drug and gene delivery, in vivo imaging, magnetic separation, and hyperthermia therapy, etc. Besides, their possible integration in sensors makes them an ideal essential element of innovative pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Nowadays, MNPs-based electrochemical sensors have attracted great attention to pharmaceutical and biomedical applications owing to their high sensitivity, stability. Selectivity towards the target as well as their simplicity of manufacture. Therefore, this review focus on recent advances with cutting-edge approaches dealing with the synthesis, design, and advantageous analytical performance of MNPs in the electrochemical sensors utilized for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications between 2015 and 2020. The challenges existing in this research area and some potential strategies/future perspectives for the rational design of electrochemical sensors are also outlined.

Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes: Recent Developments and Advances in View of Electrochemical Drug Sensors

Conductive boron-doped diamond (BDD), in addition to its superior material properties, offers many important advantages that make it an interesting material for electroanalytical studies. It has been considered as an excellent electrode material for electrooxidation of drug active compounds in their dosage forms or in biological materials due to its good physical and chemical properties. It contains not only the largest solvent working potential window compared to other electrode materials, but also it has low background and capacitive currents; lower problems with passivation and it has the ability to withstand extreme potentials, corrosive, and high temperature/pressure environments. The aim of this review is not only to provide a state-of-the-art of diamond electrochemistry but also to serve as a reference point for any researcher wishing to commence work with diamond electrodes and understand electrochemical data. Therefore, it is focused on the carbon-based materials, electrochemical properties of the BDD film electrode, its fundamental research, and its electrochemical pretreatment process are discussed in detail. In this case, there are important studies to show the effective BDD drug sensors for the detection and determination of drugs and the present review critically summarizes the available data in this field between 2015 and 2020.

An Overview on Quantum Dot-based Nanocomposites for Electrochemical Sensing on Pharmaceutical Assay

Quantum dots (QDs) are one of the first nanotechnological materials to be integrated with sensor technologies and have been widely anticipated to eventually find application chances in several commercial pharmaceutical and clinical products. They are one of the most important developments in the rapidly growing world of material science technology. The excellent properties of QDs may allow the design of simple, precise, and inexpensive electrochemical methods for the detection of pharmaceuticals. Electrochemical techniques offer accuracy, high sensitivity, low cost, simplicity, ease of preparation of the samples in a very short time, and speed of analysis. The most commonly used voltammetric techniques are differential pulse voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, and stripping voltammetry. The purpose of this review is to show and communicate the advantages and uses of QD applications used in drug analysis. Besides, the present application methods of QDs to the pharmaceutical analysis and their related parameters were summarized between 2012 and 2021 years and summarized as a table.

Electrochemical MIP Sensor for Butyrylcholinesterase

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) mimic the binding sites of antibodies by substituting the amino acid-scaffold of proteins by synthetic polymers. In this work, the first MIP for the recognition of the diagnostically relevant enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) is presented. The MIP was prepared using electropolymerization of the functional monomer o-phenylenediamine and was deposited as a thin film on a glassy carbon electrode by oxidative potentiodynamic polymerization. Rebinding and removal of the template were detected by cyclic voltammetry using ferricyanide as a redox marker. Furthermore, the enzymatic activity of BuChE rebound to the MIP was measured via the anodic oxidation of thiocholine, the reaction product of butyrylthiocholine. The response was linear between 50 pM and 2 nM concentrations of BuChE with a detection limit of 14.7 pM. In addition to the high sensitivity for BuChE, the sensor responded towards pseudo-irreversible inhibitors in the lower mM range.

A Review: New Trends in Electrode Systems for Sensitive Drug and Biomolecule Analysis

Drug and biomolecule analysis with high precision, fast response, not expensive, and user-friendly methods have been very important for developing technology and clinical applications. Electrochemical methods are highly capable for assaying the concentration of electroactive drug or biomolecule and supply excellent knowledge concerning its physical and chemical properties such as electron transfer rates, diffusion coefficients, electron transfer number, and oxidation potential. Electrochemical methods have been widely applied because of their accuracy, sensitivity, cheapness, and can applied on-site determinations of various substances. The progress on electronics has allowed developing reliable, more sensitive and less expensive instrumentations, which have significant contribution in the area of drug development, drug and biomolecule analysis. The developing new sensors for electrochemical analysis of these compounds have growing interest in recent years. Screen-printed based electrodes have a great interest in electrochemical analysis of various drugs and biomolecules due to their easy manufacturing procedure of the electrode allow the transfer of electrochemical laboratory experiments for disposable on-site analysis of some compounds. Paper based electrodes are also fabricated by new technology. They can be preferred due to their easy, cheap, portable, disposable, and offering high sensitivity properties for many application field such as environmental monitoring, food quality control, clinical diagnosis, drug, and biomolecules analysis. In this review, the recent electrochemical drug and biomolecule (DNA, RNA, µRNA, Biomarkers, etc.) studies will be presented that involve new trend disposable electrodes.

A novel electrochemical nanosensor based on NH2-functionalized multi walled carbon nanotubes for the determination of catechol-orto-methyltransferase inhibitor entacapone

In this study, an antiparkinson drug Entacapone (ENP) is electrochemically investigated under optimized conditions using NH₂ functionalized multi walled carbon nanotubes (NH₂fMWCNT) decorated over glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The surface morphology of the NH₂fMWCNT/GCE was probed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) armed with EDX analysis. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to investigate the electron transfer capability of modified and bare electrodes. Cyclic voltammetry was used to compare the redox response of ENP on the surface of modified and unmodified electrodes. The influence of interfering agents was also studied to examine the selectivity of the designed sensor. For the purpose of practical applicability of the proposed method, differential pulse voltammetric method was applied for the investigation of ENP in real samples i.e., tablet, human serum and urine. Almost 100% recovery percentages were obtained from tablet, serum and urine samples with RSD% values of less than 2% for all the samples, thus, suggesting promising applicability of the designed electrochemical sensing platform (NH₂fMWCNT/GCE) for determination of ENP in pharmaceutical dosage and real samples.

Recent progress on the sensitive detection of cardiovascular disease markers by electrochemical-based biosensors

Cardiovascular disease is the most reason for deaths in all over the world. Hence, biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases are very crucial for diagnosis and management process. Biomarker detection demand is opened the important way in biosensor development field. Rapid, cheap, portable, precise, selective and sensitive biomarker sensing devices are needed at this point to detect and predict disease. A cardiac biomarker can be orderable as C-reactive protein, troponin I or T, myoglobin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, interleukin-1, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase, low-density lipoprotein and myeloperoxidase. They are used for prediction of cardiovascular diseases. There are many methods for early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, but these have long time process and expensive devices. In recent studies, different biosensors have been developed to remove the problems in this field. Electrochemical devices and developed biosensors have many superiorities than others such as low cost, mobile, reliable, repeatable, need a little amount of solution. In this review, recent studies were presented as details for cardiovascular disease biomarkers detection using electrochemical methods.