Multicomponent recognition and on-site detection of oral antidiabetic drugs based on a host-guest fluorescent sensor...

Hypoglycemia, a serious complication of diabetes, requires prompt identification of its underlying cause. Unlike conventional lock-and-key methods, which generally require a dedicated sensor for each analyte, we constructed a supramolecular fluorescent sensor array for multiplex oral antidiabetic drug (OAD) detection using only two sensing units: cucurbit[8]uril (Q[8]) as the host, along with a synthesized bpep-Am derivative and palmatine as fluorescent probes. Upon introduction of OADs, competitive guest displacement generates differential fluorescence "fingerprints". In combination with linear discriminant analysis, the array fully discriminated five OADs (metformin, phenformin, buformin, rosiglitazone, and sitagliptin), with a detection limit as low as 0.218 μM, 100% classification accuracy in artificial urine and guinea pig serum, and >93% recovery for spiked sitagliptin and phenformin. The sensor array was further integrated into a smartphone-enabled portable device for rapid on-site visual quantification of sitagliptin. This strategy provides a promising tool for OAD screening and assessment of hypoglycemia etiology.