Electrochemical Determination of Diacerein, An Anti-Osteoarthritis Drug at Unmodified Pyrolytic Graphite Surface

A simple and selective unmodified pyrolytic graphite sensor has been used for the determination of diacerein in by using Cyclic Voltammetric (CV) and Square Wave Voltammetry (SWV), and is reported for the first time. Diacerein, a drug is frequently used for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Both the surface of the pyrolytic graphite, viz., edge plane and basal plane (EPPG and BPPG) were used for the determination. The surfaces were characterized by using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), CV and SWV. It was observed that diacerein gives a well-defined reversible couple having cathodic peak potential (E-p)(c) at -562.66 mV and anodic peak potential (E-p)(a) at -550.40 mV respectively, at pH 7.4. At EPPG a linear response of peak current versus concentration of diacerein in the range of 0.1-100 mu M was noticed with the sensitivity 3.527 mu A/mu M. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 0.066 mu M at EPPG. A comparison of results of EPPG and BPPG indicated that EPPG has more electrocatalytic activity in comparison to BPPG for the determination of diacerein. Additionally, the developed method was successfully applied for the determination of diacerein in the complex matrix, like human urine samples and no interference of the uric acid, xanthine, ascorbic acid and hypoxanthine was noticed. The good recoveries (>98%) were found in human urine samples. (C) 2019 The Electrochemical Society.