Electroanalytical Overview: The Sensing of Mesalamine (5-Aminosalicylic Acid)

Mesalamine, known as 5-aminosalicylic acid, is a medication used primarily in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. 5-Aminosalicylic acid can be measured using various benchtop laboratory techniques which involve liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy, but these are sophisticated and large, meaning that they cannot be used on-site because transportation of the samples, chemicals, and physical and biological reactions can potentially occur, which can affect the sample’s composition and potentially result in inaccurate results. An alternative approach is the use of electrochemical based sensing platforms which has the advantages of portability, cost-efficiency, facile miniaturization, and rapid analysis while nonetheless providing sensitivity and selectivity. We provide an overview of the use of the electroanalytical techniques for the sensing of 5-aminosalicylic acid and compare them to other laboratory-based measurements. The applications, challenges faced, and future opportunities for electroanalytical based sensing platforms are presented in this review.