Electrochemical sensors for doping detection: Applicable bio-samples, recognition, and signal amplification

Sports doping seriously undermines the fairness of athletic competition and also causes irreversible damage to the athletes’ physical health. Recently, as the types of doping substances have been updated, the methodology for doping control has also evolved. Among them, electrochemical (EC) sensors have gained significant development in the field of doping detection with the advantages of high detection sensitivity, simple operation process, easy integration and portability. This review systematically summarized the types and action manners of common doping agents, and the applicable biological sample matrices, the specific recognition mechanisms, as well as the detection signal cascade amplification strategy during EC assays. Comparison between the EC sensing technology and other mass spectrometry-based doping detection methods was also proposed. Meanwhile, in view of the development drawbacks and practical demands of EC detection of doping, the research perspective on the development direction of EC sensing technology was presented. We expect that this review might advance the development of EC sensing platforms for sensitive detection of low concentrations of exposed doping substances in complex biological matrices.