A review on advancement of biosensors for the detection of amphetamine drug

ABSTRACT

Drug misuse is a worldwide issue, so a variety of techniques are required to identify drugs of interest. Amphetamine is one such illegal drug that is abused worldwide. In the mid-19th century, when amphetamine was first synthesised, a number of its derivatives have been produced, posing a major threat to public health. Amphetamine (AMP), a class of psychiatric medications that affect the nervous system, is currently one of the most commonly misused in the black market, which leads to sickness in drug addicts causing fever, and harms social and public safety. They are Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulators that result in tachycardia, hypertension, and sensations of increased sociability, vitality, and self-assurance. A class of illegal synthetic drugs known as ‘Amphetamine-type stimulants’ (ATS) includes the stimulants amphetamine (AMP), methamphetamine (MA), and elation, such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), as well as less popular substances like methcathinone, fenetylline, methylphedrine, and methylphenidate. The numerous conventional techniques for detecting amphetamine drugs are discussed in this review, including Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS), Raman Spectroscopy, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and Capillary Electrophoreses (CE). These techniques are mostly used to identify amphetamine drugs, although consume a lot of time and are not efficient in terms of cost. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in biosensors specifically developed for the detection of amphetamine drugs such as Electrochemical sensors, Electrochemiluminescence, Cyclic Voltametric, Fluorescence sensors, Colorimetric sensors, Chemiluminometric sensors, Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Sensors, and Surface Plasmon Resonometric (SPR) Sensors. The final section discusses the challenges and prospective of biosensors in amphetamine drug detection. The review emphasises the need for continued research and development to improve the sensitivity, selectivity, and stability of biosensors, as well as their compatibility with real-world samples, such as urine, blood, and saliva.

KEYWORDS:

• Biosensors
• conventional technique
• biosensor
• illicit drugs

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The review is supported by Department of Biotechnology [DBT] [grant no. BT/PR31594/MED/32/738/2020].