Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Based GCE for Ultra-sensitive Voltammetric and Potentiometric Bio Sensing of Topiramate

Solid Phase-Based Microextraction Techniques in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

Therapeutic drug monitoring is an established practice for a small group of drugs, particularly those presenting narrow therapeutic windows, for which there is a direct relationship between concentration and pharmacological effects at the site of action. Drug concentrations in biological fluids are used, in addition to other clinical observation measures, to assess the patient's status, since they are the support for therapy individualization and allow assessing adherence to therapy. Monitoring these drug classes is of great importance, as it minimizes the risk of medical interactions, as well as toxic effects. In addition, the quantification of these drugs through routine toxicological tests and the development of new monitoring methodologies are extremely relevant for public health and for the well-being of the patient, and it has implications in clinical and forensic situations. In this sense, the use of new extraction procedures that employ smaller volumes of sample and organic solvents, therefore considered miniaturized and green techniques, is of great interest in this field. From these, the use of fabric-phase extractions seems appealing. Noteworthy is the fact that SPME, which was the first of these miniaturized approaches to be used in the early '90s, is still the most used solventless procedure, providing solid and sound results. The main goal of this paper is to perform a critical review of sample preparation techniques based on solid-phase microextraction for drug detection in therapeutic monitoring situations.

Highly sensitive electrochemical determination of the SARS-COV-2 antigen based on a gold/graphene imprinted poly-arginine sensor

The global COVID-19 pandemic starting at 2020 induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) has revealed a very pressing need for rapid, affordable and effective diagnosis for epidemic management and control. Although several commercialized analytical methods (e.g., reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) have been developed for detecting SARS-CoV-2, they are expensive and time-consuming. Most recently, low-cost molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based sensors have received attention. In this study, by introducing gold/graphene (Au/Gr) nanohybrids to modify a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) and using arginine as the functional monomer, a simple and highly sensitive MIP sensor was proposed to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (ncovNP). By optimizing various influencing factors, the proposed MIP sensor shows wide linear range and low detection limit for ncovNP owing to excellent electrical property and large surface of Au/Gr and specific recognition ability of MIP, revealing important potential application for the effective early diagnosis of COVID-19.