Electrochemical Aptasensors for Antibiotics Detection: Recent Achievements and Applications for Monitoring Food Safety

Abstract

Antibiotics are often used in human and veterinary medicine for the treatment of bacterial diseases. However, extensive use of antibiotics in agriculture can result in the contamination of common food staples such as milk. Consumption of contaminated products can cause serious illness and a rise in antibiotic resistance. Conventional methods of antibiotics detection such are microbiological assays chromatographic and mass spectroscopy methods are sensitive; however, they require qualified personnel, expensive instruments, and sample pretreatment. Biosensor technology can overcome these drawbacks. This review is focused on the recent achievements in the electrochemical biosensors based on nucleic acid aptamers for antibiotic detection. A brief explanation of conventional methods of antibiotic detection is also provided. The methods of the aptamer selection are explained, together with the approach used for the improvement of aptamer affinity by post-SELEX modification and computer modeling. The substantial focus of this review is on the explanation of the principles of the electrochemical detection of antibiotics by aptasensors and on recent achievements in the development of electrochemical aptasensors. The current trends and problems in practical applications of aptasensors are also discussed.

Electrochemical Biosensors for the Detection of Antibiotics in Milk: Recent Trends and Future Perspectives

“…Schemaitc diagrams of the immobilisation protocols are outlined in Figure 11 [ 111 ]. Compared to antibodies, aptamers are more physicochemically stable, and have a longer shelf-life, with reasonable cost, easy synthesis (in vitro), and relatively simple modification procedures [ 112 , 113 ].…”

“…The red line illustrates the shape of the current peak obtained; ( e ) electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; the Nyquist diagram and equivalent circuit correspond to the double-electric layer. R e is electrolyte resistance, R ct is charge transfer resistance, W is Warburg impedance, and CPE is the constant phase element [ 111 ]. Reproduced under the terms of the CC-BY licence from Ref.…”

Isothermal Reciprocal Catalytic DNA Circuit for Sensitive Analysis of Kanamycin

“…The current standard detection approaches for KAN detection in animal-derived foods include high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), 12 enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 13 liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (LC−MS), 14 and microbiological assay. 15 However, these methods usually involve complex procedures, expensive equipment, and limited sensitivity. In recent years, various methods, such as spectrophotometric, 16−18 surface-enhanced Raman scattering, 19−21 and electrochemical biosensors, 22−24 have been developed for KAN determination.…”

“…To guarantee consumers’ security, many countries have established maximum residue limits of KAN in various foods, such as 100 μg/kg in meat, 150 μg/kg in milk, and 600 μg/kg in liver. , Therefore, it is crucial to construct a high-performance and reliable method for detecting KAN in food matrices to ensure food safety. The current standard detection approaches for KAN detection in animal-derived foods include high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS), and microbiological assay . However, these methods usually involve complex procedures, expensive equipment, and limited sensitivity.…”

Different Strategies for the Microfluidic Purification of Antibiotics from Food: A Comparative Study

“…This requires a two-step process, i.e., a first phase, where antibiotics are bound and the food matrix is removed, and a second phase, where the release of the captured antibiotics is implemented, using a medium that is far more simple than the original matrix. Several different capture strategies can be exploited, based on molecular-imprinted polymers [ 14 ], antibodies [ 15 , 16 ], aptamers [ 17 , 18 , 19 ] and also taking advantage of specific interactions that the molecules of interest have with small functional groups [ 20 ].…”