Development of superoxide dismutase biosensors and their use in the determination of radical scavengers

摘要

Over the past few years our research group has addressed the problem of free radical determination using sensors and biosensors. Current investigations address biosensors constructued by coupling a gaseous diffusion amperometric electrode for oxygen determination or a classic amperometric electrode for hydrogen peroxide with the enzyme superoxide dismutase. The best results so far were obtained using this latter type of biosensor. Good biosensor repeatability and stability allowed an analytical characterization to be made and a preliminary application to detemine the effectiveness in vitro of several well-known substances (ascorbate, cysteine, glutathione, melatonin, etc.) as scavengers of the superoxide radical with a view to their possible use in the protection of human health.