Electrochemical sensor based on MIP for highly sensitive detection of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid carcinoid cancer biomarker in human biological fluids

An electrochemically synthetized nano-sensor based on molecularly imprinted polypyrrole (MIPPy) was successfully developed for the detection of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) in human biological fluids namely serum, urine, and plasma. The imprinted glassy carbon electrode was prepared by electropolymerisation of pyrrole via cyclic voltammetry (C.V).

After completely leaching the imprinted molecules from the polymeric network, complementary cavities are created. The developed MIPPy sensor, under optimized conditions, shows a high sensitivity towards the target molecule (LOQ = 5 × 10−11 M). Moreover, it presents a wide linear response in the range of 5 × 10−11 – 5 × 10−5 M (R2 > 0.999) with a detection limit of 15 × 10−12 M.

In order to evaluate the selectivity of the MIPPy film, several structural analogues and compounds forming the real matrices were tested. The obtained results show an excellent recovery rate (between 98.86 and 101.52%) proving the promising application of the proposed nano-sensor in the detection of 5-HIAA in human biological fluids without any significant interference recorded.