Enhanced Voltammetric Determination of Daunorubicin by Modifying the Surface of Screen-Printed Carbon Electrode

Daunorubicin (DNR), an anthracycline antibiotic, is a potent anticancer drug commonly used in chemotherapy. Its significant clinical effectiveness in inhibiting DNA replication and RNA transcription has led to its widespread application in treating solid tumors, including breast cancer, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and myeloid leukemia. However, side effects refer to any unwanted effects of this drug. The most critical side effect of anthracycline antibiotics is their cardiotoxicity at high doses, which increases the risk of arrhythmias, irreversible cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure in patients. Therefore, monitoring drug levels is essential to mitigate these risks. In this study, we developed NiO nanosheets (NiO NSs) modified screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE) to explore the electrochemical behavior of the anticancer drug DNR. Elemental composition of the synthesized NiO NSs was conducted using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Morphological analysis was conducted using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). For the electrochemical studies and measurements, the NiO NSs-SPCE was utilized as the sensing platform. The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique was employed to determine DNR, resulting in a detection limit (LOD) of 0.003 µM for the NiO NSs modified SPCE. Also, the determination of DNR in the injection sample was successfully conducted.