Abstract
Oxycodone is a strong opioid frequently used as an analgesic. Although proven efficacious in the management of moderate to severe acute pain and cancer pain, use of oxycodone imposes a risk of adverse effects such as addiction, overdose, and death. Fast and accurate determination of oxycodone blood concentration would enable personalized dosing and monitoring of the analgesic as well as quick diagnostics of possible overdose in emergency care. However, in addition to the parent drug, several metabolites are always present in the blood after a dose of oxycodone, and to date, there is no electrochemical data available on any of these metabolites. In this paper, a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) electrode and a Nafion-coated SWCNT electrode were used, for the first time, to study the electrochemical behavior of oxycodone and its two main metabolites, noroxycodone and oxymorphone. Both electrode types could selectively detect oxycodone in the presence of noroxycodone and oxymorphone. However, we have previously shown that addition of a Nafion coating on top of the SWCNT electrode is essential for direct measurements in complex biological matrices. Thus, the Nafion/SWCNT electrode was further characterized and used for measuring clinically relevant concentrations of oxycodone in buffer solution. The limit of detection for oxycodone with the Nafion/SWCNT sensor was 85 nM, and the linear range was 0.5–10 μM in buffer solution. This study shows that the fabricated Nafion/SWCNT sensor has potential to be applied in clinical concentration measurements.
Highlights
Oxycodone is a strong opioid frequently used as an analgesic
The plasma concentrations of oxycodone leading to sufficient analgesia after surgery are highly individual, the average concentrations ranging between 0.3 and 100 nM,[3] and in cases of overdose, the highest concentrations found in blood can be over 10 μM.[4]
We investigated the use of a plain single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) electrode as well as a SWCNT electrode coated with a thin Nafion layer for selective detection of oxycodone in the presence of its two metabolites noroxycodone and oxymorphone
Summary
Oxycodone is a strong opioid frequently used as an analgesic. proven efficacious in the management of moderate to severe acute pain and cancer pain, use of oxycodone imposes a risk of adverse effects such as addiction, overdose, and death. Oxycodone is mainly oxidized into noroxycodone by CYP3A enzymes and, to a lesser extent, to oxymorphone by CYP2D6 From these two, the major metabolite noroxycodone can reach high blood concentrations but has low affinity to the μ-opioid receptor and does not contribute to oxycodone analgesia.[6,7] oxymorphone has no significant role in the overall opioid effect of oxycodone due to very low plasma concentrations achieved after oxycodone administration.[5] oxymorphone has higher activity at the μ-opioid receptor than the parent drug, and it is used as an analgesic by itself.[6,7]. Noroxymorphone can reach relatively high concentrations in plasma after oral admin-
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
