Molecularly imprinted polymer-based electrochemical sensors for the analysis of antiviral drugs used in SARS-CoV-2: Innovations and recent applications

Viruses that cause infectious diseases pose a vital threat to the health of living beings. Antiviral drugs are widely used to treat these diseases. In recent years, due to the prevalence of infectious diseases and global epidemics, the use of antiviral medications has become increasingly widespread. In recent years, antiviral drugs, particularly SARS-CoV-2, have been used in the treatment of COVID-19, an infectious disease that has caused significant deaths worldwide. These drugs are primarily used to reduce the effects of viruses, prevent their spread, and treat the disease. Therefore, MIP-based electrochemical sensors are widely used to provide rapid, sensitive, reliable, stable, and, most importantly, selective detection of antiviral drugs. Furthermore, MIPs can be integrated into miniature devices, are reusable, and possess a highly stable structure even under harsh conditions. A review of the literature reveals that these significant advantages of MIP-based electrochemical sensors have made them a substantial asset in the selective and sensitive determination of antiviral drugs. This study investigates the applications, sensor designs, and properties of MIP-based electrochemical sensors, specifically designed for the drugs favipiravir, lopinavir, remdesivir, ribavirin, and umifenovir, which have been widely used in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections in recent years, in both pharmaceutical and biological samples. Furthermore, this review will shed light on the analysis of these drugs and the methods to be developed in the coming years.