Simultaneous Monitoring of Febuxostat and Uric Acid in Human Serum Samples Using the Direct Square-Wave Voltammetric Method

Background: High uric acid serum level, hyperuricemia, is now associated with many diseases such as gout, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease and diabetes. Febuxostat is a novel selective xanthine oxidase inhibitor approved for the treatment of hyperuricemia. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a first analytical method for the simultaneous determination of febuxostat and uric acid. Methods: An unmodified boron-doped diamond electrode provided concurrent quantitation of drug at low levels and uric acid, which has clinical significance in the diagnosis and therapy of hyperuricemia, at relatively high concentrations. The direct square-wave voltammetric method was applied to the analysis of both analytes in human serum samples. Results: Under the optimized conditions, the linear response of peak current on febuxostat concentration was achieved in the range from 7.5 x 10-7 to 3 x 10-5 M, while uric acid showed two linear ranges of 5 x 10-6 - 5 x 10-5 M and 5 x 10-5 - 2 x 10-4 M. The method was successfully utilised for quantification of both analytes in human serum samples. Good recoveries were obtained without interference from common inorganic cations and anions as well as glucose, dopamine, ascorbic and folic acids at concentrations expected in physiological conditions. Conclusion: The great benefits of developed method are fast analysis (only 7.5 s for run), low cost and simplicity of performance.