A Highly Selective Implantable Electrochemical Fiber Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring of Blood Homovanillic Acid
Kuangyi Zou, Qianming Li, Dan Li, Yiding Jiao, Lie Wang, Luhe Li, Jiacheng Wang, Yiran Li, Rui Gao, Fangyan Li, Er He, Tingting Ye, Wentao Tang, Jie Song, Lu Jiang, X.-G. Li, Hanting Zhang, Xinyin Cao, Ye Zhang
Abstract
Homovanillic acid (HVA) is a major dopamine metabolite, and blood HVA is considered as central nervous system (CNS) dopamine biomarker, which reflects the progression of dopamine-associated CNS diseases and the behavioral response to therapeutic drugs. However, facing blood various active substances interference, particularly structurally similar catecholamines and their metabolites, real-time and accurate monitoring of blood HVA remains a challenge. Herein, a highly selective implantable electrochemical fiber sensor based on a molecularly imprinted polymer is reported to accurately monitor HVA in vivo . The sensor exhibits high selectivity, with a response intensity to HVA 12.6 times greater than that of catecholamines and their metabolites, achieving 97.8% accuracy in vivo . The sensor injected into the rat caudal vein tracked the real-time changes of blood HVA, which paralleled the brain dopamine fluctuations and indicated the behavioral response to dopamine increase. This study provides a universal design strategy for improving the selectivity of implantable electrochemical sensors.