Development of a PCR-Based Lateral Flow Strip Assay for the Rapid Detection of Dried Sika Deer Antler Products

Sika deer antler, a traditional and highly valued Chinese medicinal material, faces challenges in standardization and application of identification techniques due to various limitations in existing animal-derived detection methods.

To develop a rapid and visual method for authenticating dried sika deer antler products by integrating polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with lateral flow biosensor (LFB) technology.

Sika deer-specific primers were designed, and their specificity, sensitivity, and detection limit were verified by agarose gel electrophoresis and nucleic acid test strips.

Sika deer-specific primers can specifically amplify a fragment of 478 bp without cross-reactivity to phylogenetically related species. The PCR-LFB method demonstrated an absolute sensitivity of 1 pg/µL for sika deer DNA, with detection limits of 0.01% for red deer (Cervus canadensis), and 1% for both reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and New Zealand deer antler.

With exceptional specificity and minimal instrumentation requirements, this protocol provides a reliable tool for market surveillance, quality assurance, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) standardization of sika deer antler products.

The PCR-LFB method has strong specificity and high sensitivity. The PCR-LFB method provides fast, visualized readings. Combining PCR with LFB offers a practical, reliable, and economically viable method that overcomes the limitations of traditional morphology or more complex molecular techniques.