Electrochemical sensor for determination of methylprednisolone as an anabolic steroid used in doping

Abstract

The current work was done to prepare an electrochemical sensor based on an MC/GCE (mesoporous carbon modified glassy carbon electrode) for determining the presence of methylprednisolone (MP) as a performance-enhancing anabolic steroid. Utilizing FE-SEM and XRD to characterize the shape and structure, it was discovered that the GCE surface was covered by a MC porous structure with a large effective surface area. MC can facilitate the process of electron transfer in electrochemical reactions and improve electrochemical reactivity, stability, and selectivity to determine MP, according to research on electrochemical properties using DPV measurements. The results revealed a steady linear range of 0.005–8 μM and a sensitivity value of 25.8389 µA/μM. Additionally, the MP sensor's detection limit was as low as 0.001 μM. The results showed very good conformity between the results of the two assays, and the RSD values (4.65–5.31 %) and recovery (96.00–99.40 %) values for DPV measurements were good enough. The proposed MP electrochemical sensor was applied to measure MP in blood serum samples taken from young volleyball players between the ages of 18 and 24. It demonstrated the MC/GCE results' desired accuracy and usefulness in determining the MP content of human blood serum.