Electrochemical Determination of Nandrolone as a Doping Agent in Sport by Molecularly Imprinted Polymers and Au Nanoparticles Hybrid Nanostructured Electrode in Biological Fluids

Abstract

The goal of this study was to develop a stable and broad-range electrochemical sensor for detecting nandrolone (19-nortestosterone (19-NT)) as a doping agent in clinical samples by combining molecularly imprinted polymers and Au nanoparticles hybrid film modified glassy carbon electrode (MIP/Au/GCE) using electrodeposition and electropolymerization techniques. According to crystallographic and morphological characterizations, electrodeposited Au nanoparticles were successfully covered by electrppolymerized MIPs film. The MIP/Au/GCE demonstrated significant catalytic activity, stability, and selectivity for 19-NT sensing, according to electrochemical evaluation utilizing DPV and methods. The electrochemical electrocatalytic activity of MIP/Au/GCE was found to be favorable and even better than that of other reported 19-NT electrochemical sensors in the literature, with good sensitivity (0.5209 µA/µM), detection limit (3 nM), and linear range (5 to 95 µM) values. The accuracy and practical application of a newly developed amperometric sensing method for determining 19-NT in urine samples from young athletes aged 22 to 28 who were given Nandrodek subcutaneously were investigated, and the results showed that the findings of the amperomery and ELISA assays agreed fairly well. Furthermore, the RSD values obtained (3.09% to 4.38%) revealed that the proposed amperometric approach had excellent detection precision and validity for determining 19-NT in clinical samples and human bodily fluids.