Eu[sub.2]O[sub.3]@Cr[sub.2]O[sub.3] Nanoparticles-Modified Carbon Paste Electrode for Efficient Electrochemical Sensing of Neurotransmitters Precursor L-DOPA

• Published in: Biosensors (Basel) 2023-01, Vol.13 (2)
• Main Authors: Mijajlović, Aleksandar, Ognjanović, Miloš, Manojlović, Dragan, Vlahović, Filip, Đurđić, Slađana, Stanković, Vesna, Stanković, Dalibor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Control; Dopa; Dosage and administration; Electrochemical analysis; Electrodes, Carbon; Methods; Nanoparticles; Parkinson's disease
• ISSN: 2079-6374; 2079-6374
• DOI: 10.3390/bios13020201

There are ten million people in the world who have Parkinson’s disease. The most potent medicine for Parkinson’s disease is levodopa (L-DOPA). However, long-term consumption of L-DOPA leads to the appearance of side effects, as a result of which the control and monitoring of its concentrations are of great importance. In this work, we have designed a new electrochemical sensor for detecting L-DOPA using a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with Eu[sub.2] O[sub.3] @Cr[sub.2] O[sub.3] composite nanoparticles. Rare earth elements, including Eu, are increasingly used to design new electrode nanocomposites with enhanced electrocatalytic properties. Europium has been considered a significant lanthanide element with greater redox reaction behavior. We conducted a hydrothermal synthesis of Eu[sub.2] O[sub.3] @Cr[sub.2] O[sub.3] and, for the first time, the acquired nanoparticles were used to modify CPE. The proposed Eu[sub.2] O[sub.3] @Cr[sub.2] O[sub.3] /CPE electrode was investigated in terms of its electrocatalytic properties and then used to develop an analytical method for detecting and quantifying L-DOPA. The proposed sensor offers a wide linear range (1–100 µM), high sensitivity (1.38 µA µM[sup.−1] cm[sup.−2] ) and a low detection limit (0.72 µM). The practical application of the proposed sensor was investigated by analyzing commercially available pharmaceutical tablets of L-DOPA. The corresponding results indicate the excellent potential of the Eu[sub.2] O[sub.3] @Cr[sub.2] O[sub.3] /CPE sensor for application in real-time L-DOPA detection.