Abstract
Levodopa is a precursor of dopamine, having important beneficial effects in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. In this study, levodopa was accurately detected by means of cyclic voltammetry using carbon-based (C-SPCE), mesoporous carbon (MC-SPCE) and ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC-SPCE)-modified screen-printed sensors. Screen-printed carbon sensors were initially used for the electrochemical detection of levodopa in a 10−3 M solution at pH 7.0. The mesoporous carbon with an organized structure led to better electroanalysis results and to lower detection and quantification limits of the OMC-SPCE sensor as compared to the other two studied sensors. The range of linearity obtained and the low values of the detection (0.290 µM) and quantification (0.966 µM) limit demonstrate the high sensitivity and accuracy of the method for the determination of levodopa in real samples. Therefore, levodopa was detected by means of OMC-SPCE in three dietary supplements produced by different manufacturers and having various concentrations of the active compound, levodopa. The results obtained by cyclic voltammetry were compared with those obtained by using the FTIR method and no significant differences were observed. OMC-SPCE proved to be stable, and the electrochemical responses did not vary by more than 3% in repeated immersions in a solution with the same concentration of levodopa. In addition, the interfering compounds did not significantly influence the peaks related to the presence of levodopa in the solution to be analyzed.
Highlights
The most important component of Mucuna pruriens seeds is levodopa (L-DOPA, L-3,4dihydroxyphenylalanine), which is currently the standard medication for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease [1]
The present study aims to characterize and analyze the electroanalytical performance of three screen-printed carbon sensors modified with mesoporous carbonaceous materials and detecting L-DOPA in food supplements by means of cyclic voltammetry
The electrochemical behavior of three modified carbon-based screen-printed sensors (C-SPCE, MC-SPCE, and OMC-SPCE) in different electroactive solutions was studied analyzed in this research work
Summary
The most important component of Mucuna pruriens seeds is levodopa (L-DOPA, L-3,4dihydroxyphenylalanine), which is currently the standard medication for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease [1]. This disease is a progressive neurological disorder that is triggered when the brain fails to produce enough dopamine [2,3]. The progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways, along with the presence of Lewy corpuscles in the mesencephalon, are the main causes of the first symptoms related to Parkinson’s syndrome [6,7]. Since dopamine cannot be administered directly because it does not penetrate the blood–brain barrier, L-DOPA is the appropriate precursor for reducing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease [10]. The use of novel pharmaceutical technologies for the controlled release of active compounds can increase the efficiency of such products in clinical practice [11]
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