Development of a new rabbit monoclonal antibody and its based competitive indirect enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay for rapid detection of sulfonamides

Background Monoclonal antibodies generally obtained through the classic mouse hybridoma system were requisite for the establishment of various immunoassays. In this study, a new rabbit monoclonal antibody ( RabMAb ) against sulfonamides ( SAs ) was first produced via hybridoma technique in rabbit. The related enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ) was then developed and applied to real sample analysis.Results A sensitive competitive indirect ELISA method based on a novel RabMAb for rapid detection of sulfonamides was first established. The obtained half‐maximum inhibition concentration ( IC 50 ) values for four SAs were all below 10 ng mL −1 , with 0.68 ng mL −1 sulfathiazole ( STZ ), 1.11 ng mL −1 sulfadiazine ( SD ), 1.15 ng mL −1 sulfapyridine ( SP ) and 5.27 ng mL −1 sulfamethoxazole ( SMX ). Desirable recoveries when detecting different spiked swine urine and milk samples were achieved ranging from 92.6% to 104.3% and from 61.1% to 81.6%, respectively.Conclusion The proposed immunoassay with the newly developed RabMAb is capable of detection of four SAs ( STZ , SD , SP and SMX ) with proven satisfactory performance and is applicable for routine large‐scale analysis in practical uses.© 2012 Society of Chemical Industry