Recognition of creatinine by poly(ethylene-co-vinylalcohol) molecular imprinting membrane

To assess the function of kidneys, creatinine clearance is an important standard measurement: the normal creatinine concentration is 0.5˜1.5 mg/mL in urine. Moreover, abnormal creatinine concentration is correlated with some kidney diseases, for instance; acute nephritis, acute or chronic renal failure, renal tubule defect and urinary tract infection. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) are an approach using an artificial material as a biomimetic antibody. They are synthesized by solidification of polymers in the presence of template molecules as the mold. The template molecules are then washed out by proper solvent so that the binding sites possess specific affinity for and complementary structure to the template molecule used. MIPs can be used as the functional element in biosensors. In this study (in contrast to creatine detection techniques such as the Jaffe reaction, kinetic method, coupled enzyme assay, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method) the novel EVAL molecular imprinting technique was employed to synthesize creatinine imprinted polymers to enhance the retention and detectability of creatinine.