Overview and recent advances in electrochemical sensing of glutathione – A review

The present paper is aimed at providing an overview of the recent advances in the electrochemical sensing of glutathione (GSH), an important electrochemically and biologically active molecule, for the period 2012–2018. Herein, the analytical performances of newly developed electrochemical methods, procedures and protocols for GSH sensing are comprehensively and critically discussed with respect to the type of method, electrodes used (new electrode modifications, advanced materials and formats), sample matrices, and basic validation parameters obtained (limit of detection, linear dynamic range, precision, selectivity/evaluation of interferences). This paper considers electrochemical methods used alone as well as the hyphenated methods with electrochemical detection (ECD), such as HPLC-ECD or CE-ECD. The practical applicability of the platforms developed for GSH detection and quantification is mostly focused on pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis. The most significant electrochemical approaches for GSH detection in multicomponent analyte samples and multicomponent matrices and for real-time in vivo GSH analysis are highlighted. The great variability in the electrochemical techniques, electrode approaches, and obtainable performance parameters, discussed in this review, brought new insights not only on current GSH and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) determinations, but, along with this, on the advances in electrochemical analysis from a more general point of view. [Display omitted] •GSH is important biologically active molecule regulating many redox processes.•Electrochemical sensing of GSH is growing on importance as indicated in 2012–2018.•Advances include new methodologies, electrode materials, modifications, and formats.•Enhancement is in selectivity, nM-fM sensitivity, minimized sample preparation.•Applications cover multicomponent analyte and matrix samples and in-vivo analyses.