Simultaneous detection of purine metabolites by membrane modified electrochemical sensors

Abstract Purine metabolites are important for metabolic and cellular processes. Deregulation of purinergic signaling leads to pathological accumulation of purine degradation products in extracellular fluids and indicates various diseases. In clinical diagnosis at early stages of related diseases, accurate detection of Uric acid and Xanthine is of high importance. Electrochemical methods are fast, simple, sensitive, more convenient, and cost-effective compared to other analytical methods used in purine metabolites signaling. Electrochemical sensors are able to detect more compounds simultaneously. Modification of a glassy carbon electrode sensor with external protective membranes was used in this study to avoid unwanted signal interferences from analyte matrices. Polyvinyl alcohol, Chitosan, and Nafion membranes were selected for sensor modification to compare the electro-neutral, positive and negative charged setting of the Xanthine and Uric acid detection. All three membrane modified sensors showed adequate stability in the phosphate buffer solution after 5 min of incubation and are thus suitable for simultaneous detection of purine metabolites. The best results in anodic peak current response values were observed using the Nafion membrane modified glassy carbon electrode sensor. The approach reported here can be useful for the detection of purine metabolites from various matrices at early stages of clinical diagnosis.