A review on advancement of biosensors for benzodiazepines detection

ABSTRACT

A class of psychoactive compounds known as benzodiazepines are usually given for illnesses including anxiety, depression and persistent pain. The usage and misuse of benzodiazepines are gradually increasing, and accurate detection procedures are required to keep track of patient usage and compliance. It is of tremendous interest to many scientists to determine the presence of benzodiazepines in biological specimen. The use of benzodiazepines as drugs and deadly or criminal behaviour while under their influence are becoming major global concerns. Benzodiazepines are also considered as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that has mostly impacted on aquatic environments. BZD drugs are mostly abused due to their toxic effects, widespread availability and the resistant to photodegradation and remain on the surface water for several months shows the environment concern so their trace amount of detection is important. Some of the methods used for benzodiazepine detection are gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry and electron capture (GC-MS) (GC-EC), thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and immunoassay methods. These methods are widely used, producing reliable and accurate results. At the same time, they have the potential to seriously compromise workplace safety, are prone to cross-reactivities and are insufficient for highly selective conclusions. Therefore, there is an urgent need for some rapid and selective techniques for benzodiazepine detection. Benzodiazepines may be continually monitored with exceptional sensitivity as well as selectivity even at extremely minimal sample volumes using nanomaterial-based biosensors, which are excellent instruments for this purpose. This study concentrates on the status of benzodiazepine fast and real-time diagnostics. It also covers the potential development of several conventional approaches for quick detection at ultra-low levels, imparting knowledge about the future of sensor technology. Some of the classification, mechanism of action of benzodiazepines as well as various benzodiazepine derivative drugs (BDZs) are also discussed. Current developments in different nanosensors designed to analyse the most prevalent benzodiazepines and their metabolites are the main topic of this study.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Status of fast, rapid and on-spot diagnosis of benzodiazepine drugs.

• Some of the conventional techniques used for benzodiazepines detection are discussed.

• Biosensing methods with their future development and possibilities are summarised in this review.

KEYWORDS:

• Illicit drug
• biosensor
• point of care devices
• diagnostics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India [BT/PR31594/MED/32/738/2020].