Insulin Quantification Through Electrochemical and Optical Aptasensors: A Review

Diabetes mellitus is a serious global health issue, impacting hundreds of millions of people. Current management of diabetes focuses on achieving optimal glycemic control through consistent glucose monitoring. While insulin is crucial for regulating blood glucose levels, its role extends beyond insulin therapy and is often underutilized. Estimating insulin resistance is vital for early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and improving insulin dosing accuracy. Fasting insulin measurements facilitate the assessment of insulin resistance using the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), which correlates well with the gold standard research methods. Despite its potential, the current clinical practices face limitations such as prolonged detection times, centralization, and high costs, which hinder routine monitoring. There is an urgent need for a reliable, portable, and cost-effective real-time insulin detection device. Aptasensors, widely developed across various industries, offer a promising solution. These sensors promise fast, affordable, and simple measurement while maintaining high sensitivity. This review explores recent developments in insulin-binding aptamers and aptasensors, emphasizing optical and electrochemical biosensors. Their analytical performance, including specificity, sensitivity, and detection limits is discussed. Addressing the limitations of current biosensors, such as sensitivity, selectivity, and response time, is essential for advancing affordable and reliable insulin monitoring.