Rapid determination of phenylethanolamine A in biological samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and lateral-flow immunoassay

AbstractPhenylethanolamine A (PA) is a β-adrenergic agonist, which was first used in animal husbandry as a growth promoter in China in 2010. In this study, a monoclonal-antibody (mAb)-based indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) and lateral-flow immunoassay (LFA) for the detection of PA in swine urine and pork were developed. The immunogen was prepared by linking PA hapten with carrier protein via a diazotization method. The IC50 value of the optimized icELISA was 0.44 ng mL−1. The limits of detection of the icELISA for PA in swine urine and pork were 0.13 ng mL−1 and 0.39 ng g−1, respectively. The recoveries of PA from spiked swine urine and pork were in the range 82.0–107.4 % and 81.8–113.3 %, respectively, with the coefficients of variation in the range 4.1–16.2 % and 1.2–6.3 %, respectively. The mAbs had negligible cross reactivity with 10 other β-agonists. In contrast, the LFA had a cut-off level of 5 ng mL−1 (g) in swine urine and pork, and the results could be achieved within 5 min. Ten blind samples of swine urine were analyzed simultaneously by icELISA, LFA, and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and the results of the three methods agreed well. Therefore, the combination of two immunoassays provides an effective and rapid screening method for detection of PA residues in biological samples. Graphical AbstractDetermination of phenylethanolamine A in biological samples by immunological methods