Development of a method for the determination of apixaban in blood plasma using the stripping voltammetry method
M.A. Dragunova, G.B. Slepchenko, Yu.R. Terra, E.S. Moiseeva, E.S. Sitkova, R.E. Batalov
Background. As is known, the issue of maintaining a balance between the efficacy and safety of anticoagulant therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation causes a number of difficulties in real clinical practice. In recent years, the development and clinical validation of sensitive and selective methods for quantitative determination of direct oral anticoagulant levels in the blood have demonstrated their relevance for optimizing drug monitoring in patient groups at increased risk of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications.
Objective: To develop a method for determining the concentration of apixaban (APX) in peripheral blood using a voltammetric sensor based on phenyl-modified graphite.
Materials and methods. The experimental basis of this study was the development of a new method for modifying a graphite electrode for the voltammetric determination of APX using domestic equipment and readily available reagents. A graphite electrode modified with phenyl groups using arenediazonium tosylates was used. The degree of modification was monitored instrumentally. The electrode surface was characterized using the ζ-potential (streaming potential) method. Electrode process characteristics (adsorption stage, electron fraction in the rate-limiting stage, and the αn factor) were determined using voltammetric peak shape analysis and the Laviron equation. Operating conditions for APX determination were selected.
Results. It was established that the anodic oxidation of APX on the surface of phenylated graphite is adsorption-based. The αn factors were calculated for the rate-limiting step (≈1.5) and for the overall electrode process (≈2). The flow potential method revealed an increase in the cathodic ζ-potential of the modified electrode, indicating an increase in its adsorption capacity. The following parameters were selected: analyte accumulation conditions; voltammogram recording mode; background electrolyte composition.
Conclusion. A new method for modifying a graphite electrode has been developed, enabling reliable monitoring of its properties. The modification has been shown to increase the surface’s adsorption capacity for APX. Operating parameters for its voltammetric determination have been selected. The method utilizes domestically produced equipment and readily available reagents, making it promising for clinical monitoring of anticoagulant therapy.
For citation: Dragunova MA, Slepchenko GB, Terra YuR, Moiseeva ES, Sitkova ES, Batalov RE. Development of a method for the determination of apixaban in blood plasma using the stripping voltammetry method. Therapy (Moscow). 2026;12(5S):5–9.
https://dx.doi.org/10.18565/therapy.2026.5-s5.5-9
Ключевые слова
Список литературы
1. Van Gelder IC, Rienstra M, Bunting KV, Casado-Arroyo R, Caso V, Crijns HJGM, et al; ESC Scientific Document Group. 2024 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. Eur Heart J. 2024;45(36):3314–414.
PMID: 39210723. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehae176. Erratum in: Eur Heart J. 2025;46(41):4349.
https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf306
2. Golukhova EZ, Golitsyn SP, Mikhailov EN, Revishvili ASh, Arakelyan MG, Vasilyeva EYu, et al. [Atrial fibrillation and flutter. Clinical guidelines 2025. Rossiyskiy kardiologicheskiy zhurnal = Russian Journal of Cardiology. 2025;30(11):123–224 (In Russ.)].
EDN: MGXGON. https://doi.org/10.15829/1560-4071-2025-6668
3. McIntyre WF, Conen D, Olshansky B, Halperin JL, Hayek E, Huisman MV, et al. Stroke-prevention strategies in north american patients with atrial fibrillation: The GLORIA-AF registry program. Clin Cardiol. 2018;41(6):744–51.
PMID: 29546729. PMCID: PMC6032943. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.22936
4. Steinberg BA, Gao H, Shrader P, Pieper K, Thomas L, Camm AJ, et al.; GARFIELD-AF; ORBIT-AF Investigators. International trends in clinical characteristics and oral anticoagulation treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation: Results from the GARFIELD-AF, ORBIT-AF I, and ORBIT-AF II registries. Am Heart J. 2017;194:132–40.
PMID: 29223431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2017.08.011
5. Ungar L, Rodriguez F, Hellkamp AS, Becker RC, Berkowitz SD, Breithardt G, et al. Patient-reported satisfaction and study drug discontinuation: Post-hoc analysis of findings from ROCKET AF. Cardiol Ther. 2019;8(2):283–95.
PMID: 31376090. PMCID: PMC6828909. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40119-019-00146-6
6. Mazurek M, Huisman MV, Rothman KJ, Paquette M, Teutsch C, Diener HC, et al; GLORIA-AF Investigators. Regional differences in antithrombotic treatment for atrial fibrillation: Insights from the GLORIAAF phase II registry. Thromb Haemost. 2017;117(12):2376–88.
PMID: 29212125. PMCID: PMC6260111. https://doi.org/10.1160/TH17-08-0555
7. Ma CS. The use of direct oral anticoagulants for prevention of stroke and systemic embolic events in East Asian patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. CVIA. 2018;3(2):215–26.
https://doi.org/10.15212/CVIA.2017.0033
8. Galea R, Seiffge D, Raber L. Atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke despite oral anticoagulation. J Clin Med. 2023;12(18):5784.
PMID: 37762726. PMCID: PMC10532406. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12185784
9. Conen D. Epidemiology of atrial fibrillation. Eur Heart J. 2018;39(16):1323–24.
PMID: 29688435. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy171
10. Lurie A, Wang J, Hinnegan KJ, McIntyre WF, Belley-Cote EP, Amit G, et al. Prevalence of left atrial thrombus in anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021;77(23):2875–86.
PMID: 34112315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2021.04.036
11. Zhao Z, Zhang X. Current status of left atrial appendage thrombus with atrial fibrillation. Cardiology Discovery. 2023;3(3):203–11.
https://doi.org/10.1097/CD9.0000000000000095
12. Lurie A, Wang J, Hinnegan KJ, McIntyre WF, Belley-Cote EP, Amit G, et al. Prevalence of left atrial thrombus in anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021;77(23):2875–86.
PMID: 34112315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2021.04.036
13. Becattini C, Franco L, Beyer-Westendorf J, Masotti L, Nitti C, Vanni S, et al. Major bleeding with vitamin K antagonists or direct oral anticoagulants in real-life. Int J Cardiol. 2017;227:261–66.
PMID: 27843050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2016.11.117
14. Rizk M, Sultan MA, Taha EA, Attia AK, Abdallah YM. Sensitive validated voltammetric determination of apixaban using multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified carbon paste electrode: Application to drug product and biological sample. Anal Methods. 2017;9(17):2523–34.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ay00244k
15. Shahbazi-Derakhshi P, Abbasi M, Akbarzadeh A, Mokhtarzadeh A, Hosseinpour H, Soleymani J. A ratiometric electrochemical probe for the quantification of apixaban in unprocessed plasma samples using carbon aerogel/BFO modified glassy carbon electrodes. RSC Adv. 2023;13(31):21432–40.
PMID: 37465572. PMCID: PMC10351564. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ra03293k
16. [Dutov AA, Nikitin DA, Ermolina AV, Lukyanova JuL, Mishchenko MN, Shemyakina NA, Rudakova LV. HPLC analysis of malonic dialdehyde in plasma and saliva with the purification of derivatives on super-cross-linked polystyrene (Puroxep-270). Sorbtsionnye i khromatograficheskie protsessy = Sorption and Chromatographic Processes. 2018;18(1):73–82 (In Russ.)]. EDN: YRTIEM.
17. Hennion MC. Solid-phase extraction: Method development, sorbents, and coupling with liquid chromatography. J Chromatogr A. 1999;856(1–2):3–54.
PMID: 10526783. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(99)00832-8
18. Sychev DA, Sinitsina II, Zakharova GYu., Savelieva MI, Ryabova AV, Kryukov AV, Yurovskii AYu. [Practical aspects of apixaban use in clinical practice: View point of clinical pharmacologist. Ratsional’naya farmakoterapiya v kardiologii = Rational Pharmacotherapy in Cardiology. 2015;11(2):209–16 (In Russ.)]. EDN: TQTHXP.
19. Luettgen JM, Knabb RM, He K, Pinto DJ, Rendina AR. Apixaban inhibition of factor Xa: Microscopic rate constants and inhibition mechanism in purified protein systems and in human plasma. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem. 2011;26(4):514–26.
PMID: 21171894. https://doi.org/10.3109/14756366.2010.535793
20. Sitkova ES, Dragunova MA, Ogurkova ON, Smorgon AV, Moskovskikh TV, Batalov RE, Suslova TE. [Spontaneous and stimulated platelet aggregation activity in patients with atrial fibrillation and thrombotic complications. Sibirskiy zhurnal klinicheskoy i eksperimental’noy meditsiny = Siberian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine. 2023;38(4):116–24 (In Russ.)].
EDN: WJXZRF. https://doi.org/10.29001/2073-8552-2023-38-4-116-124
Об авторах / Для корреспонденции
Marina A. Dragunova, MD, PhD (Medicine), researcher at the Laboratory of high-tech diagnostics and treatment of heart rhythm disorders of the Research Institute of Cardiology, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of RAS, Tomsk, Russian Federation.E-mail: kirsay@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7264-9904. Scopus ID: 56700320100. WoS ResearcherID: F-4418-2018. eLibrary SPIN: 8613-8706
Galina B. Slepchenko, Dr. Sci. (Chemistry), professor of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk, Russian Federation.
E-mail: microlab@tpu.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0296-604Х. Scopus ID: 66026683690. WoS ResearcherID: T-1627-2017. eLibrary SPIN: 135-447
Yuriy R. Terra, Master’s student at the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk, Russian Federation.
E-mail: yrt3@tpu.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1410-8815. WoS ResearcherID: MBV-6380-2025
Evgeniya S. Moiseeva, PhD (Chemistry), head of the Shared Use Center “Physicochemical Methods of Analysis” at the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Tomsk, Russian Federation.
E-mail: moiseevaes@tpu.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3891-2286. Scopus ID: 53881653900. WoS ResearcherID: R-4516-2017. eLibrary SPIN: 4147-0916
Ekaterina S. Sitkova, MD, PhD (Medicine), head of the Laboratory of high-tech diagnostics and treatment of heart rhythm disorders of the Research Institute of Cardiology, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of RAS, Tomsk, Russian Federation.
E-mail: ses@cardio-tomsk.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0988-3642. Scopus ID: 57192702084. WoS ResearcherID: J-6719-2017. eLibrary SPIN: 3731-5403
Roman E. Batalov, MD, Dr. Sci. (Medicine), leading researcher at the Laboratory of high technologies for diagnostics and treatment of heart rhythm disorders of the Research Institute of Cardiology, Tomsk National Research Medical Center of RAS, Tomsk, Russian Federation.
E-mail: romancer@cardio-tomsk.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1415-3932. Scopus ID: 55382776400. WoS ResearcherID: J-1707-2017. eLibrary SPIN: 1371-4429



