One-Step Detection of Vancomycin in Whole Blood Using the Lateral Flow Immunoassay

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Biotechnology
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Vancomycin (VAN) is crucial for treating Gram-positive infections, including MRSA.
• Therapeutic drug monitoring of VAN is essential due to toxicity risks and potential for resistance.
• Existing detection methods can be time-consuming or require specialized equipment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid, user-friendly lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for vancomycin detection.
• To enable on-site monitoring of vancomycin concentrations in whole blood without plasma separation.
• To provide a cost-effective tool for therapeutic drug monitoring of vancomycin.

Main Methods:

• Development of a one-step lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for vancomycin detection.
• Testing the LFIA using whole blood samples across a wide concentration range.
• Validation of the LFIA results against a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

Main Results:

• The developed LFIA provides rapid (within 20 min) on-site detection of vancomycin.
• The assay is effective for whole blood samples, covering concentrations from 20-10,000 ng/mL.
• A low detection limit of 18 ng/mL was achieved, with good correlation (ρ = 0.891) to ELISA.

Conclusions:

• The developed LFIA offers a rapid and reliable method for vancomycin detection in whole blood.
• This assay can significantly aid in therapeutic drug monitoring, optimizing patient treatment.
• The user-friendly nature and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for on-site clinical applications.