Non-Enzymatic Electrochemistry in Characterization and Analysis of Steroid Compounds

This review summarizes achievements in electrochemistry-related research of steroid-based compounds in clinical, pharmaceutical, and environmental analysis. Special attention is paid to compounds possessing none or only isolated double bonds at the steroid core. Their direct redox activity is limited to far positive/negative potentials under variety of conditions and electrode materials and relies on the functional groups attached to the steroid skeleton, or as the case may be its double bond or moieties present at the side chain. The possibilities of electroanalytical methods in sterol characterization and analysis are demonstrated in a table with 31 references devoted to direct voltammetric and amperometric methods of oxidation of cholesterol, phytosterols, oxysterols, and related compounds at carbon-based and metal-based nanoparticles modified electrodes, and the reduction of bile acids and their conjugates at mercury-based electrodes, and modified glassy carbon electrodes. Furthermore, methods based on the indirect oxidation of cholesterol using bromine species as a mediator at platinum electrode and non-enzymatic cholesterol biosensors are reviewed. Their drawbacks and benefits are discussed with respect to the challenging task of identification and quantitation of these compounds in biological matrices, otherwise mostly performed using expensive mass spectrometric techniques preceded by a chromatographic separation step.