Recent advances in enzyme inhibition based-electrochemical biosensors for pharmaceutical and environmental analysis

Enzymes are biological catalysts that facilitate a diverse range of biochemical reactions in a highly specific and efficient manner. The development of inhibitors of several clinically relevant enzymes including acetylcholinesterase, tyrosinase, xanthine oxidase, alkaline phosphatase, and glucosidase has emerged as a promising approach to treating several diseases. The unintentional intake of pesticides or other toxic compounds can also reversibly or irreversibly inhibit the activity of certain enzymes, damaging normal physiological activity in affected individuals. There is thus a critical need to design reliable approaches to detecting the presence of enzymatic inhibitors in a range of sample matrices. Electrochemical biosensors have emerged as promising tools that have been widely employed in the development and detection of enzymatic inhibitors owing to their low-cost, highly efficient, and extremely sensitive characteristics. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of enzyme inhibition-based electrochemical biosensors. After an initial discussion of different types of inhibition and immobilization strategies employed in the design of these biosensors, the current progress of research efforts focused on the design of enzyme-based electrochemical biosensors aimed at detecting enzymatic inhibitors in the context of both drug development and environmental pollution is discussed. Lastly, this article closes with an overview of current challenges and future development trends associated with electrochemical biosensor fabrication efforts. Together, this review will provide a robust foundation for future research and development work focused on creating novel electrochemical biosensors for use in related fields. • The different types of enzyme inhibition and the immobilization strategies in/on nanocarriers utilized in biosensor design are discussed in detail. • Systematically reviews application of enzyme inhibition-based electrochemical biosensors aimed at detecting enzymatic inhibitors in the context of both drug development and environmental pollution. • The challenges and prospective directions for design and fabrication of these biosensors are explored. • This paper provides inspirations for innovative design of biosensors in enzyme inhibitors detection.