A novel electrochemical sensor based on gold nanoparticles decorated functionalized carbon nanofibers for selective determination of xanthine oxidase inhibitor febuxostat in plasma of patients with gout

Abstract Febuxostat is an antihyperuricemic drug used for the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with chronic gout. Hence, in this work, there was an impetus to construct a sensitive electrochemical sensor for the detection of febuxostat (FBX) drug in human plasma of patients. A novel electrochemical sensor was successfully fabricated based on gold nanoparticles decorated functionalized carbon nanofibers AuNPs@f-CNFs modified pencil graphite rod electrode (PGRE) to determine FBX drug. The new sensor showed a superior performance in terms of a wide linear range (0.03–77 µM) with high sensitivity (5.9 μA μM−1 cm−2). The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of FBX were deliberated to be 12.7 nM and 42.5 nM, respectively. Furthermore, electrochemical sensing of FBX in the presence of ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid was examined. The fabricated electrode directly paved the new way for the electrochemical quantification of FBX in pharmaceutical formulations, plasma of patients with gout and human biological fluids. Finally, the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method was performed to validate the reliability of the proposed method.