Development of an immunoassay for diagnosis of exposure to toxic organophosphorus compounds

Currently, diagnosis of exposure to toxic low‐molecular‐weight compounds is effected by the use of chromatographic techniques. Such an approach is limited by the need for expensive equipment and sample clean‐up before carrying out the analysis. To overcome those drawbacks, we have been involved in the development of an immunoassay for diagnosis of exposure to toxic organophosphorus compounds such as pinacolylmethyl phosphonofluoridate (soman), which is a chemical warfare agent. Prior estimates suggested that it is necessary to be able to detect soman at a concentration below 2.5 × 10 −7 M. Using four previously developed monoclonal antibodies, an enzyme‐linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was used to optimize assay conditions and identify the antibody with the highest apparent affinity. The minimum required assay time was 2.0–2.5 h with no loss in sensitivity. To determine the specificity of the highest affinity antibody, a competitive inhibition enzyme immunoassay (CIEIA) was performed with six structural analogs of soman. The IC 50 values for these analogues were 5 × 10 −7 M for 4‐nitrophenylpinacolylmethylphosphonate, 8 × 10 −7 M for dipinacolylmethylphosphonate, 2 × 10 −6 M for diisopropylmethylphosphonate, 3 × 10 −5 M for 4‐nitrophenylmethyl(phenylphosphinate) and 6.5 × 10 −5 M for 4‐nitrophenylethyl(phenyl)phosphinate. 4‐Nitrophenyl‐di( n ‐butyl)phosphinate did not inhibit binding. Those inhibitors with branched alkyl side‐chains, similar to the soman molecule, were effective inhibitors. Compounds, which contained predominately aromatic groups, were poor inhibitors. We are continuing to probe the binding specificity of the monoclonal antibody to determine its utility in further assay development. Our present results suggest that the antibody chosen may have the appropriate specificity and affinity for immunodiagnosis of exposure to soman. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.