Employment of 4-(1-imidazolyl)phenol as a luminol signal enhancer in a competitive-type chemiluminescence immunoassay and its comparison with the conventional antigen-horseradish peroxidase conjugate-based assay

This study describes the employment of a novel imidazole-substituted phenol [4-(1-imidazolyl)phenol] as a highly potent signal enhancer in a horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-luminol chemiluminescence (CL) immunoassay. This competitive-type immunoassay for the model antigen fentanyl is based on the use of fentanyl polyclonal antibody immobilized on white microtiter plates and a biotinylated bovine serum albumin (BSA)-fentanyl derivative as a tracer. The latter was detected by means of streptavidin labeled with HRP, resulting in the generation of a high-intensity and relatively stable chemiluminescent signal, immediately after the addition of the substrate solution (NOAS). The developed method fulfilled the requirements of accuracy (percentage recovery ranged from 93.8 to 107%) and precision (intra- and inter-assay CVs were 2.5-5.2 and 4.5-11.9%, respectively). Its plasma detection limit (1.05 pg ml⁻¹) was lower than those of previous immunoassays. The novel assay was compared in terms of sensitivity and concentration range with other common HRP substrate systems: luminol-p-iodophenol-H₂O₂ and TMB-H₂O₂. Finally, the described method was compared with an HRP-fentanyl conjugate-based assay, similar to commercially available kits (SKIT), employing the novel substrate solution for both assays and the differences observed were explained by applying previously described models. The detection limit was 4.82 pg ml⁻¹ for SKIT, recovery values were 94.2-105% and intra- and inter-assay CVs were 2.5-5.2 and 4.5-11.9%, respectively. In conclusion, the proposed assay could be utilized for a wide range of molecules and replace the existing enzyme-labeled antigen-based kits.     

A competitive immunoassay for sensitive detection of small molecules chloramphenicol based on luminol functionalized silver nanoprobe

Chloramphenicol (CHL) as a broad-spectrum antibiotic has a broad action spectrum against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as anaerobes. The use of CHL is strictly restricted in poultry because of its toxic effect. However, CHL is still illegally used in animal farming because of its accessibility and low cost. Therefore, sensitive methods are highly desired for the determination of CHL in foodstuffs. The immunoassays based on labeling as an important tool have been reported for the detection of CHL residues in food-producing animals. However, most of the labeling procedures require multi-step reactions and purifications and thus they are complicated and time-consuming. Recently, in our previous work, luminol functionalized silver nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized, which exhibits higher CL efficiency than luminol functionalized gold nanoparticles. In this work, the new luminol functionalized silver nanoparticles have been used for the labeling of small molecules CHL for the first time and a competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay has been developed for the detection of CHL. Owing to the amplification of silver nanoparticles, high sensitivity for CHL could be achieved with a low detection limit of 7.6 × 10⁻⁹ g mL⁻¹ and a wide linear dynamic range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁸–1.0 × 10⁻⁶ g mL⁻¹. This method has also been successfully applied to determine CHL in milk and honey samples with a good recoveries (92% and 102%, 99% and 107% respectively), indicating that the method is feasible for the determination of CHL in real milk and honey samples. The labeling procedure is simple, convenient and fast, superior to previously reported labeling procedures. The immunoassay is also simple, fast, sensitive and selective. It is of application potential for the determination of CHL in foodstuffs.     

纳米银催化的鲁米诺化学发光体系测定呋喃硫胺的研究

基于纳米银能够增强鲁米诺-H2O2-呋喃硫胺体系化学发光的现象,建立了测定呋喃硫胺的流动注射化学发光新方法.对体系的化学发光机理进行了初步探讨,发现该体系的化学发光光谱的最大发射波长为425nm,该体系的发光体为激发态的3-氨基邻苯二甲酸根离子.该方法测定呋喃硫胺的线性范围为1.0×10-8～1.0×10-5g/mL,检出限4×10-9g/mL,对1.0×10-6g/mL呋喃硫胺连续9次测定的相对标准偏差(RSD)为1.9％.方法已用于药物呋喃硫胺片中呋喃硫胺的测定.     

Study of the enhanced chemiluminescence from the luminol-horseradish peroxidase-hydrogen peroxide-p-coumaric acid system at very short times: stopped flow selective determination of p-coumaric acid in beers

p-Coumaric acid has a greater enhancing effect on the chemiluminescence of the luminol-H₂O₂-horseradish peroxidase system, at low concentration, than other phenolic acids studied. We have used this effect to study the variations of the chemiluminescent signal with luminol, hydrogen peroxide, p-coumaric acid, horseradish peroxidase concentrations and pH, using the stopped-flow technique, by monitoring the initial reaction rate. The interference effects of other phenolic acids on the enhanced chemiluminescence with p-coumaric acid (25 nM) were negligible at similar concentrations of phenolic acid. We monitored the chemiluminescence intensity at 10 s for the determination of p-coumaric acid in beers. The detection limit was ca. 0.7 nM and the linear range was 0–12.5 nM. The precision of the method, expressed as a relative standard deviation, was 2.5%.     

Investigation of several parameters influencing signal generation in flow-through membrane-based enzyme immunoassay

Rapid-response analytical tests that can be performed at the point of sampling are based on a visual detection system. The influence of different factors on the signal generation in a membrane-based enzyme immunoassay was investigated. The research was applied to a flow-through immunoassay for the detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). This assay format is a very convenient, simple and fast qualitative screening tool. Conjugates of OTA with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) were used as enzyme tracers. A new conjugate OTA-AP has been synthesized in our laboratory and its performance in the assay was compared with that of OTA-HRP. Different substrate systems for HRP and AP were compared. Several reagents, including polymers and surfactants, were tested for their possible effect on signal generation with the use of OTA-HRP conjugate. Polymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) 6000 exerted a favourable effect on signal amplification, whereas surfactants negatively affected assay performance. The highest signal amplification (30–70% compared to the standard assay procedure) was achieved using 0.5% PVA in tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) Colorburst substrate solution and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for the washing step. It allowed more reliable visual estimation of the results from OTA-HRP assay. Exclusion of the detergent (Tween 20) from the washing solution exerted a favourable effect on assay performance using both enzyme tracers. The assay using OTA-HRP was more susceptible to matrix interferences than the assay with OTA-AP. Signal development in the matrix was better for the OTA-AP assay and visual estimation of the results was easier to perform in this case. For the analysis of spiked wheat samples, OTA-AP conjugate gave a more sensitive, stable and reproducible assay with a cut-off level of 4 μg kg⁻¹ for OTA. The application of the new OTA-AP conjugate resulted in improved assay performance for the food samples.     

Study on the chemiluminescence behavior of bovine serum albumin with luminol and its analytical application

In this paper, the luminescence behavior of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and luminol was first studied by flow injection chemiluminescence (CL). It was found that the hyperchromic effect of luminol in the presence of BSA led to the acceleration of the electrons transferring rate of excited 3-aminophthalate, which greatly enhanced the CL intensity of luminol/dissolved oxygen reaction. The increments of CL intensity were proportional to the concentrations of BSA with a linear range from 0.01 to 7 nmol L(-1). It was also found that azithromycin could inhibit the CL intensity of luminol/BSA reaction. The decrements of CL intensity were logarithm over the concentrations of azithromycin ranging from 0.1 to 700 ng mL(-1). At a flow rate of 2.0 mL min(-1), a complete analytical process, which included sampling and washing, could be performed within 30s with relative standard deviations of less than 3.1%. This proposed method was successfully applied in assaying azithromycin in pharmaceutical and human serum samples with recoveries from 91.0 to 104.3%. The possible luminescence mechanism of luminol/BSA/azithromycin reaction was discussed in detail by CL, UV and fluorescence methods.     

Flow injection chemiluminescence determination of isoniazid using luminol and silver nanoparticles

The effect of silver colloidal nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the luminol–isoniazid system was investigated. It was found that AgNPs could act as a nanocatalyst on the luminol–isoniazid system to generate chemiluminescence (CL). The CL emission spectrum of the luminol–isoniazid–AgNPs system showed a peak with a maximum at 425 nm. It was suggested that the luminophor species was the excited state 3-aminophthalate. The reduction of dissolved O₂ to H₂O₂ by isoniazid and decomposition of H₂O₂ to the oxygen-related radicals were attributed to the catalytic effect of AgNPs. Under optimized conditions, the CL signal intensity was linear with the isoniazid concentration in the range of 10–1000 ng mL^{− 1}, with the correlation coefficient of 0.9996. The limit of detection was 2.7 ng mL^{− 1} isoniazid. The relative standard deviations for seven repeated measurements of 60 and 200 ng mL^{− 1} isoniazid were 1.4 and 2.4%, respectively. The effect of potent interfering compounds on the CL signal intensity of the proposed luminol–isoniazid–AgNPs system was investigated. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of isoniazid in a pharmaceutical sample.     

Development of an automatic multi-channel ink-jet ejection chemiluminescence system and its application to the determination of horseradish peroxidase

In this work, an automatic multi-channel ink-jet for chemiluminescence (CL) analysis was developed. The four-channel ink-jet device was controlled by a home-made circuit. Differing from the classic flow injection CL, the whole procedure for CL analysis was automatically completed on a hydrophobic glass side. CL reaction of luminal and hydrogen peroxide for the determination of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was selected as an application to automatic CL analysis platform. All solutions delivered by different channels were precisely ejected to the same position of the glass slide for the CL analysis. The consumption of reaction solution was reduced to nanoliter level. The whole CL analysis could be completed in less than 4 min, which was benefited from the prompt solution mixing in small size of droplet. The CL intensity increased linearly with HRP concentration in the range from 0.01 to 0.5 μg mL⁻¹. The limit of detection (LOD) (S/N = 3) was 0.005 μg mL⁻¹. Finally, the automatic CL system could also be used for the detection of HRP in HRP–protein conjugates, which showed its practical application in immunoassay.     

Evaluation of peroxide value of olive oil and antioxidant activity by luminol chemiluminescence

Three procedures are developed and investigated for the simple and fast determination of peroxide value of olive oil by luminol chemiluminescence. The procedure using hemin as catalyst in carbonate alkaline solution allows the determination of hydrogen peroxide within the range 0.014-50 μM. The method can be used for the determination of peroxide value within the range 2.00-30.0 mequiv. O₂/kg oil and results correlate very well (r² = 0.99) with those of the official method. All reagents are aqueous solutions and olive oil is dissolved in acetone:ethanol mixed solution and, hence, the method is using minimal amounts of organic solvents and can be successfully applied to field analysis. Antioxidant activity of five common compounds found in natural products was determined by using luminol CL with Co(II) as EDTA complex as catalyst at pH 9.00.     

A study of the chemiluminescence behavior of myoglobin with luminol and its analytical applications

A chemiluminescence signal at 425 nm was observed when ferric state myoglobin was mixed with luminol in alkaline medium. Because the signal was remarkably enhanced in the presence of Fe(CN)₆ ^4–, analytical applications were investigated in a flow-injection system. The increase in chemiluminescence was linearly dependent on myoglobin concentration in the range 0.1 to 100 nmol L^–1, and the limit of detection was 0.04 nmol L^–1 with relative standard deviation 3.2% (3). It was also found that binding of Mb with the ligands CN^–, SCN^–, and F^– significantly inhibited the chemiluminescence reaction. The linear dynamic ranges for the ligands were 1.0–300.0, 0.1–3.0, and 0.5–100.0 nmol L^–1, and the limits of detection (S/N=3) 0.4, 0.04, and 0.2 nmol L^–1, for F^–, CN^–, and SCN^–, respectively. The relative standard deviations were 5.32%, 6.13%, and 3.38% for 0.1 nmol L^–1 CN^–, 0.5 nmol L^–1 SCN^–, and 1.0 nmol L^–1 F^–, respectively. At a flow rate of 2.0 mL min^–1 the assay could be accomplished in 1 min, including sampling and washing. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of myoglobin in human urine and F^– in water samples. A possible mechanism of chemiluminescence production by myoglobin and luminol is presented.     

The study of a chemiluminescence immunoassay using the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescent reaction and its application

The paper presented a novel chemiluminescence (CL) immunoassay method, which combines the advantages of traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and bis (2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO)-hydrogen peroxide CL detection system. A fluorescent product 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAPN) was produced by reaction between o-phenylenediamine (OPDA, 1,2-diaminobenzene) and H₂O₂ catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP). DAPN was excited by the reactive intermediate of TCPO-H₂O₂ chemiluminescent reaction, and led to CL. The dependence of the CL intensity on the concentrations of antigen was studied. As analytical application, the proposed method was used for determination of recombinant human interleukin 6 (rHu IL-6) and β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG). Under the selected experimental conditions, a linear relationship was obtained between the CL intensity and the concentration of rHu IL-6 in the range of 4.0-625.0 pg/ml, and β-HCG in the range of 12.5-400.0 mIU/ml. The detection limits were 0.5 pg/ml for rHu IL-6 and 3 mIU/ml for β-HCG with relative standard deviation of 2.3 for 78.0 pg/ml rHu IL-6, and 3.9 for 50.0 mIU/ml β-HCG. This method has been applied to the determination of rHu IL-6 in human serum and β-HCG in urine with satisfactory results.     

The inhibition by amines and amino acids of bleach-induced luminol chemiluminescence during forensic screening for blood

Sprays containing alkaline solutions of peroxide and luminol are used as presumptive screens for bloodstains at crime scenes. These sprays can be subject to interference from hypochlorite-based cleaning agents (bleaches), leading to false positive results. This paper reports the screening of amines for their ability to decrease the interference by bleach while not greatly affecting the reaction with blood. The addition of glycine (0.05 mol L⁻¹) to the Grodsky formulation of luminol spray, together with an adjustment of the pH to 12, gave good discrimination between blood and bleach, and has the advantage that glycine is non-toxic compared to many other amines. The modified spray gave similar chemiluminescence intensity and duration as the unmodified Grodsky spray. However, it is recommended that this modification only be used when there is evidence that hypochlorite bleach may have been used at a scene. The amines triethylamine and sulfamate led to enhanced chemiluminescence in the presence of hypochlorite.     

Amplified inhibition of the electrochemical signal of ferrocene by enzyme-functionalized graphene oxide nanoprobe for ultrasensitive immunoassay

A nanoprobe-induced signal inhibition mechanism was designed for ultrasensitive electrochemical immunoassay at a chitosan-ferrocene (CS-Fc) based immunosensor. The nanoprobe was prepared by covalently loading signal antibody and high-content horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the graphene oxide (GO) nanocarrier. The immunosensor was prepared through the stepwise assembly of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and capture antibody at a CS-Fc modified electrode. After sandwich immunoreaction, the GO-HRP nanoprobes were quantitatively captured onto the immunosensor surface and thus induced the production of a layer of insoluble film through the enzymatically catalytic reaction of the HRP labels. Both the dielectric immunocomplex formed on the immunosensor surface and the enzymatic precipitate with low electroconductivity led to the electrochemical signal decease of the Fc indicator, which was greatly amplified by the multi-enzyme signal amplification of the nanoprobe. Based on this amplified signal inhibition mechanism, a new ultrasensitive electrochemical immunoassay method was developed. Using carcinoembryonic antigen as a model analyte, this method showed a wide linear range over 5 orders of magnitude with a detection limit down to 0.54 pg/mL. Besides, the immunosensor showed good specificity, acceptable reproducibility and stability as well as satisfactory reliability for the serum sample analysis.     

甲基红-H2O2-HRP伏安酶联免疫分析法测定HRP及其标记物

提出了一种新的辣根过氧化物酶的底物-甲基红,它本身具有电化学活性,能够在静汞电极上发生还原反应,产生灵敏的伏安电流信号.以H2O2为氧化剂,HRP能催化氧化还原反应的发生,使甲基红被氧化分解,其平衡浓度降低,对应的还原峰电流降低,峰电流的降低值与HRP的质量浓度在5.0×10-8～5.0×10-7g/mL之间呈线性关系,对2.0×10-7g/mL HRP进行11次测定的相对标准偏差为4.6%,方法的检出限为1.8×10-8g/mL.应用于IgG-HRP和Avidin-HRP的测定.     

Water quality monitoring using an enhanced chemiluminescent assay based on peroxidase-catalyzed peroxidation of luminol

Enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) describes the phenomenon of the light output increase in the reaction of oxidation of luminol catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the presence of certain phenolic compounds. This work summarizes the effects of preincubation of certain substances with HRP on the chemiluminescent reaction intensity. Preincubation of herbicide, detergent, surfactants (Brij-96 and Tween-20), phenol, metal ions (mercury, cobalt, and nickel), and bactericide with HRP had an inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity. HRP-preincubation with metal ions (cadmium, magnesium, and zinc), as well as with some insecticides, stimulated the chemiluminescent intensity. Calibration graphs were obtained to demonstrate the possibility to determine the pollutant concentration. Light emission from the peroxidase catalyzed enhanced chemilum inescence is affected by a wide number of chemicals and, therefore, the method can beused for on-site monitoring of water quality. A rapid and simple assay to detect water contamination has been developed.     

Effect of pH on the characteristics of potassium permanganate–luminol CL reaction in the presence of trace aluminum(III) and its analytical application

At pHs ≥ 11.45, trace Al was found to enhance the CL from luminol–KMnO₄ system. However, at pHs ≤ 10.42, it was found to inhibit strongly the CL from luminol–KMnO₄ system. The effect of pH, luminol and potassium permanganate concentrations on the kinetic characteristics of CL system was investigated in the presence of trace Al. On this basis, a flow injection inhibition chemiluminescence method was established for the determination of trace Al in this study. Under optimized conditions, the CL decreased linearly with Al(III) concentration in the range of 8–500 μg L⁻¹ and the detection limit (3σ) of 2 μg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) is 3.6% for 100 μg L⁻¹ Al(III) (n = 11). The method has been applied to the determination of trace Al in real water samples with satisfactory results without the pretreatment of samples. The results given by the proposed method are in good agreement with those given by ICP-AES detection method.     

Enhancing and inhibiting effects of aromatic compounds on luminol-dimethylsulfoxide-OH(-) chemiluminescence and determination of intermediates in oxidative hair dyes by HPLC with chemiluminescence detection

The effect of 36 aromatic compounds on the luminol-dimethylsulfoxide-OH⁻ chemiluminescence (CL) was systematically studied. It was found that dihydroxybenzenes, and ortho- and para-substituted aminophenols and phenylenediamines inhibited the CL and phenols with three or more than three hydroxyls except phloroglucin tended to enhance the CL. The CL inhibition and enhancement was proposed to be dependent on whether superoxide anion radical (O₂⁻) was competitively consumed by compounds in the CL system. Trihydroxybenzenes were capable of generating superoxide anion radical, leading to the CL enhancement, whereas dihydroxybenzenes were superoxide anion radical scavenger, causing the CL inhibition. Based on the inhibited CL, a novel method for the simultaneous determination of p-phenylenediamine, o-phenylenediamine, p-aminophenol, o-aminophenol, resorcinol and hydroquinone by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with chemiluminescence detection was developed. The method has been successfully applied to determine intermediates in oxidative hair dyes and wastewater of shampooing after hair dyed.     

Determination of N-methylcarbamate pesticides in water and vegetable samples by HPLC with post-column chemiluminescence detection using the luminol reaction

In this paper we proposed a reverse high performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of three N-methylcarbamates (NMCs) named carbofuran, carbaryl and methiocarb, using the post-column chemiluminescence (CL) detection with the luminol reaction. This method is based on the enhancing effect of these analytes on the CL emission generated by the oxidation of luminol with potassium permanganate in alkaline medium. The separation was reached in less than 14 min using a C18 column and an isocratic binary mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile:water (50:50, v/v) pumped at a flow rate of 1 mL min⁻¹. CL reagents (luminol and KMnO₄) were incorporated by means of a peristaltic pump and were firstly mixed using a three-way connector. Then this stream was mixed with the eluate using another three-way connector just before reaching the detection cell. The optimization of variables affecting the CL reaction (reaction medium, concentration, flow rate of reagents and distance between both connectors) were optimized by means of experimental designs. Ethiofencarb, a NMC which has nowadays fallen into disuse was used as internal standard. For the analysis of theses pesticides in real water samples a pre-treatment step consisting of solid phase extraction (SPE) was conducted in order to reach sensitivity levels below the legal maximum concentration permitted. In the case of vegetable sample, SPE was used for matrix cleaning purpose.     

A sensitive and rapid immunoassay for quantification of CA125 in human sera by capillary electrophoresis with enhanced chemiluminescence detection

In this paper we have presented a sensitive and rapid immunoassay (IA) method by capillary electrophoresis with an enhanced chemiluminescence detection system (CE-CL) based on the catalytic effects of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the luminol-hydrogen peroxide reaction. The conditions for the CL reaction and electrophoresis were systematically investigated using HRP as a model sample. The linear range from 2.5 x 10(-11) to 1.0 x 10(-9) mol/L (R = 0.999), and the detection limit of 1.0 x 10(-12) mol/L (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) for HRP were achieved using para-iodophenol as CL enhancer. The relative standard deviations of the migration time and peak area for 5.0 x 10(-10) mol/L HRP (n = 7) were 0.26 and 4.8%, respectively, using a CE system with a home-built CL detector. Under the optimal condition, the HRP-labeled CA125 antibody (Ab) and the Ab-antigen complex were well separated within 4 min by CE using a high-pH buffer (pH 10.20). The assay was successfully used for quantification of CA125 in human sera from health controls and patients associated with ovarian cancer, and the recoveries of the standard addition experiments were 93-109%. Our primary results demonstrated that IA based on CE-CL detection is a powerful tool for clinical diagnosis combined with these commercial IA kits.     

Highly sensitive method for determination of N-nitrosamines using high-performance liquid chromatography with online UV irradiation and luminol chemiluminescence detection

A new method for the measurement of N-nitrosamines in part-per-trillion concentrations from water samples without preconcentration steps has been developed. This method is based on online UV irradiation after high-performance liquid chromatographic separation and subsequent luminol chemiluminescence detection without addition of an oxidant. It was confirmed that N-nitrosamines in basic aqueous solution were transformed to peroxynitrite by UV irradiation. The detection limits for this method were 1.5 ng/L, 2.9 ng/L, 3.0 ng/L, and 2.7 ng/L for N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosomorpholine, N-nitrosomethylethylamine, and N-nitrosopyrrolidine, respectively, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The calibration graphs were linear in the range of 5–1000 ng/L for these N-nitrosamines. This method was used for the determination of N-nitrosamines in tap water, river water, and industrial plant effluent samples. The recoveries of N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosomorpholine, N-nitrosomethylethylamine, and N-nitrosopyrrolidine present in tap water sample at a concentration of 10 ng/L (mean ± standard deviation, n = 4) were (94.8 ± 2.7)%, (102.0 ± 6.9)%, (99.3 ± 3.9)%, and (102.8 ± 2.5)%, respectively. These results indicate that our proposed method can be applied satisfactorily to the determination of N-nitrosamines in water samples.