Cholinesterase-based dipstick assay for the detection of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides

A cholinesterase (ChE)-based dipstick-type assay for the class-specific detection of organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CM) pesticides was developed. The principle of the assay is based on inhibition of the activity of a ChE by these two families of pesticides, which is dependent on the concentration of pesticides. The proposed assay system is composed of a test strip with an acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-coated membrane and an enzyme substrate solution. The assay protocol involves incubation of the enzyme-coated strip in the pesticide-containing sample solution followed by incubation of the sample-treated strip in a chromogenic enzyme substrate solution. The color intensity is estimated by the naked eye or a reflectometer. Of the membranes tested as the enzyme support, Hybond N⁺ was the most suitable. Among the compounds tested as the enzyme substrate, indophenyl acetate was the best. The detectable concentration range of the dipstick assay for the OP and CM pesticides was 10⁻⁶-10² and 10⁻⁶-10⁰ μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The sensitivity of the dipstick assay to the oxidized form of parathion (paraoxon) was higher than to parathion. The strip showed a large matrix effect with pesticide-spiked lettuce samples, whereas it showed a small matrix effect with pesticide-spiked rice samples.     

膜载体酶标记dip-stick快速检测西维因的痕量残留

利用直接竞争酶联免疫吸附分析技术研发了一种快速、灵敏的膜载体酶标记dip-stick农残西维因检测方法。该方法以带正电尼龙膜(Millipore)为固相载体,将西维因抗体包被于膜上,包被有抗体的膜插入含有西维因和西维因酶标抗原的混合液中竞争反应10 min后直接目视判断分析结果。该方法的整个检测过程只需15 min,对西维因的检出限可达到10μg.L-1,且稳定性较好。通过与高效液相色谱法(HPLC)比较,验证了该检测方法的有效性,可作为品质控制和快速定性检测的一种有效工具。     

Determination of Atrazine in Vegetable Samples Using a Dipstick Immunoassay Format

A dipstick assay format for atrazine analysis in vegetable samples is described. The analytical method consists in a fast extraction procedure followed by a test based on the use of Immobilon-P strips as antibody coating support. The atrazine quantification was carried out measuring the dot colour by a spectrophotometer. Thus atrazine could be detected in a concentration range 0.16-475.0 µg L_{m 1} with an I₅₀ of 2.04 µg L _m1. For direct quantification of vegetable samples, those were extracted by blending 5 g in 10 mL of MeOH for 10 min followed by a vacuum filtration through 0.45 µm nylon filters. To avoid erroneous atrazine results, all samples and standards were run in 50% of MeOH which decreased the assay sensitivity by ten fold ( I₅₀ = 21.09 µg L_m1). Therefore, the proposed methodology was able to perform atrazine analysis under established EU MRL. The samples could be measured directly without any prior concentration or clean-up steps. Recoveries (75-105%) were in agreement with those obtained by a reference method (multiresidue extraction-GC/MS quantification). The feasibility of automated immunoreagent dispenser was also demonstrated.     

Dipstick based immunochemiluminescence biosensor for the analysis of vitamin B12 in energy drinks: A novel approach

In this article, we describe a dipstick based immunochemiluminescence (immuno-CL) biosensor for the detection of vitamin B₁₂ in energy drinks. The method is a direct competitive type format involving the immobilization of vitamin B₁₂ antibody on nitrocellulose membrane (NC) followed by treatment with vitamin B₁₂ and vitamin B₁₂–alkaline phosphatase conjugate to facilitate the competitive binding. The dipstick was further treated with substrate disodium 2-chloro-5-(4-methoxyspiro {1,2-dioxetane-3,2¢-(5¢-chloro)tricyclo[3.3.1.13,7]decan}-4-yl)-1-phenyl phosphate (CDP-Star) to generate chemiluminescence (CL). The number of photons generated was inversely proportional to the vitamin B₁₂ concentration. After systematic optimization, the limit of detection was 1 ng mL⁻¹. The coefficient of variation was below 0.2% for both intra- and inter-assay precision. Vitamin B₁₂ was extracted from energy drinks with recovery ranged from 90 to 99.4%. Two different energy drinks samples were analyzed, and a good correlation was observed when the data were compared with a reference enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) method. The developed method is suitable for an accurate, sensitive, and high-throughput screening of vitamin B₁₂ in energy drinks samples. The dipstick technique based on immuno-CL is suitable for the detection of several analyte in food and environmental samples.     

A semi-quantitative dipstick assay for microcystin

An immunochromatographic lateral flow dipstick assay for the fast detection of microcystin-LR was developed. Colloid gold particles with diameters of 40 nm were used as red-colored antibody labels for the visual detection of the antigen. The new dipstick sensor is capable of detecting down to 5 μg·l⁻¹ (ppb; total inversion of the color signal) or 1 ppb (observation of color grading) of microcystin-LR. The course of the labeling reaction was observed via spectrometric wave shifts caused by the change of particle size during the binding of antibodies. Different stabilizing reagents showed that especially bovine serum albumin (BSA) and casein increase the assays sensitivity and the conjugate stability. Performance of the dipsticks was quantified by pattern processing of capture zone CCD images. Storage stability of dipsticks and conjugate suspensions over 115 days under different conditions were monitored. The ready-to-use dipsticks were successfully tested with microcystin-LR-spiked samples of outdoor drinking- and salt water and applied to the tissue of microcystin-fed mussels. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Lateral flow dipstick test for genotyping of 15 beta-globin gene (HBB) mutations with naked-eye detection

For definitive diagnosis of thalassemia carriers and patients, as well as for prenatal diagnosis, genotype analysis is of fundamental importance. We report a dry-reagent, lateral flow dipstick test that enables visual genotyping (detection by naked eye) of 15 mutations common in Mediterranean populations in the beta-globin gene (HBB). The method comprises 3 simple steps: (i) PCR amplification of a single 1896 bp segment of the beta globin gene flanking all 15 mutations; (ii) a multiplex (10-plex and/or 30-plex) primer extension reaction of the unpurified amplification product using allele-specific primers. Biotin is incorporated in the extended product; (iii) a dry-reagent multi-allele (10-plex) dipstick assay for visual detection of the primer extension reaction products within minutes. The total time required for PCR, primer extension reaction and the dipstick assay is ∼2 h. The method was evaluated by genotyping 45 DNA samples of known genotypes and 54 blind samples. The results were fully concordant with reference methods. The method is simple, rapid, and cost-effective. Detection by the dipstick assay does not require specialized instrumentation or highly qualified personnel. The proposed method could be a particularly useful tool in laboratories with limited resources and a basis for point-of-care diagnostics especially in combination with PCR amplification from whole blood.