A Study of Voltammetric Behavior of Spermine and Its Application for Estimation of Polyamine Oxidase Activity

Abstract

Here, we present details about the voltammetric behavior of spermine (spm), showing a well-defined current peak at -0.45 V, compared to AgCl, as a reference electrode, using square wave voltammetry (SWV). Under optimal conditions, the voltammetric current is proportional to the concentration of spm, over the concentration range of 4.99 ×10-8 –7.98×10-7 M, with a correlation coefficient of R= 0.994 and a limit of detection of 0.7 ×10-8 M. Repeatability was tested for 9.99×10-7 M spm (n = 6), the current was 41 nA, and standard deviation (SD) was ±1.5 nA. In addition, the SD for instrument error was 1.7 nA. The proposed method was successfully applied to examine the polyamine oxidase (PAO) activity in cow and sheep’s milk. A comparative study between SWV electrochemical and spectroscopic methods showed a good correlation between the two methods, indicating that the proposed method can be used as an alternative analytical technique.