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Updated: May 26, 2026
Development of a Lateral Flow Immunochromatographic Strip for Rapid and Quantitative Detection of Small Molecule Compounds
Published on: November 13, 2021
Colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic test strip for rapid detection of abrin in food samples
Shan Gao1, Chong Nie, Junhong Wang
1State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, No. 20 Dongda Street, Fengtai District, Beijing 100071, People's Republic of China.
Insights
A new immunochromatographic (IC) test strip rapidly detects abrin toxin in food samples. This sensitive assay provides accurate results in under 10 minutes, distinguishing abrin from ricin.
Area of Science:
- Food safety
- Analytical chemistry
- Immunotechnology
Background:
- Abrin is a highly toxic protein found in castor beans, posing a significant food safety concern.
- Accurate and rapid detection methods for abrin are crucial for preventing food contamination.
- Existing detection methods can be time-consuming and require specialized equipment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a convenient, rapid, and sensitive immunochromatographic (IC) test strip for abrin detection.
- To validate the IC test strip's performance in various food matrices.
- To assess the specificity of the IC test strip against related toxins like ricin.
Main Methods:
- Development of a sandwich-format IC test strip using anti-abrin monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies.
- Immobilization of anti-abrin A chain monoclonal antibody on nitrocellulose membrane as capture antibody.
- Conjugation of anti-abrin polyclonal antibody to colloidal gold particles as detection antibody.
Main Results:
- The IC test strip achieved a lower detection limit of approximately 3 ng/ml for abrin in spiked food samples (milk, orange juice, drinking water).
- Analytical recovery rates ranged from 92.2% to 128%, indicating high accuracy.
- Detection of abrin in food samples was completed in less than 10 minutes.
- The test strip demonstrated no cross-reactivity with the phytotoxin ricin.
Conclusions:
- The developed IC test strip offers a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for abrin detection in food.
- This assay is suitable for on-site screening and quantitative analysis of abrin contamination.
- The test strip has the potential for development into a user-friendly kit for food safety applications.
Abstract:
In the present study, we developed a convenient, rapid, and sensitive immunochromatographic (IC) test strip to detect abrin in assay buffer and spiked abrin in test food samples. The abrin IC test strip was based on a sandwich format consisting of a monoclonal antibody and a polyclonal antibody. The anti-abrin A chain monoclonal antibody from mice was immobilized on a porous nitrocellulose membrane as a capture antibody, while the anti-abrin polyclonal antibody from rabbits was conjugated to colloidal gold particles, serving as a detection antibody. Both visual observation and quantitative analysis indicated that the lower detection of the strip was about 3 ng/ml when abrin was directly spiked into milk, orange juice, and drinking water at a concentration of 3 to 60 ng/ml; the analytical recovery rate was 92.2 to 128%. With this method, abrin spiked into food could be detected in less than 10 min. Moreover, the IC test strip showed no cross-reaction with the closely related phytotoxin ricin. Therefore, our test strip is an ideal candidate for the development of a kit for rapid and quantitative detection of abrin in food samples.
