Background: Analytical scientists have constantly been in search for more efficient and economical methods for drug simulation studies. Owing to great progress in this field, there are various techniques available nowadays that mimic drug metabolism in the hepatic microenvironment. The conventional in vitro and in vivo studies pose inherent methodological drawbacks due to which alternative analytical approaches are devised for different drug metabolism experiments.

Methods: Electrochemistry has gained attention due to its benefits over conventional metabolism studies. Because of the protein binding nature of reactive metabolites, it is difficult to identify them directly after formation, although the use of trapping agents aids in their successful identification. Furthermore, various scientific reports confirmed the successful simulation of drug metabolism studies by electrochemical cells. Electrochemical cells coupled with chromatography and mass spectrometry made it easy for direct detection of reactive metabolites. In this review, an insight into the application of electrochemical techniques for metabolism simulation studies has been provided. The sole use of electrochemical cells, as well as their setups on coupling to liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry has been discussed. The importance of metabolism prediction in early drug discovery and development stages along with a brief overview of other conventional methods has also been highlighted.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first article to review the electrochemistry based strategy for the analysis of reactive metabolites. The outcome of this ‘first of its kind’ review will significantly help the researchers in the application of electrochemistry based bioanalysis for metabolite detection.

背景：分析科学家一直在寻找更有效，更经济的药物模拟研究方法。由于该领域的巨大进步，当今有多种可用的技术可模拟肝微环境中的药物代谢。传统的体外和体内研究存在固有的方法学缺陷，因此，针对不同的药物代谢实验设计了替代分析方法。

方法：电化学因其比常规代谢研究的优势而受到关注。由于反应性代谢物的蛋白质结合性质，尽管捕获剂的使用有助于其成功鉴定，但很难在形成后直接鉴定它们。此外，各种科学报告证实了电化学电池对药物代谢研究的成功模拟。电化学池与色谱和质谱联用使得直接检测反应性代谢物变得容易。在这篇综述中，提供了对电化学技术在代谢模拟研究中的应用的见解。讨论了电化学电池的唯一用途，以及它们与液相色谱和质谱联用的设置。

结论：就我们所知，这是第一篇评论基于电化学的反应性代谢物分析策略的文章。“同类首个”综述的结果将极大地帮助研究人员将基于电化学的生物分析应用于代谢物检测。