Chromatographic Residue Analysis of Sulfonamides in Foodstuffs of Animal Origin

Abstract

The widespread use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine for prophylactic, therapeutic and growth promoting purposes may result in the presence of residues in foodstuff of animal origin. Sulfonamides, N-derivatives of 4-amino-benzenesulfonamide, belong to a diverse class of synthetic antibiotics consisting of chemically related compounds. A number of them e.g., sulfamethazine, sulfadiazine, sulfaquinoxaline and sulfamethoxypyridazine, are widely used in animal husbandry. Their residues in food are of great concern because of their potential carcinogenic character and because they may contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in humans. These facts have induced most of the regulatory activities on sulfonamides. Regulatory bodies in the European Union as well as in other countries have set different maximum residue limits in various tissues. These regulations have stimulated the development of fast, accurate and sensitive analytical methods for monitoring sulfonamide residues in food samples of animal origin. Gas chromatography methods tend to be timeconsuming due to the required previous cleanup and derivatization procedures, thus, HPLC methods with UV or MS detection have the leading position. These and other aspects of current analytical methodology, including sample preparation and cleanup, are reviewed and discussed. Emphasis is given to confirmatory methods since these comprise useful tools to regulatory agencies, and identifications based on these methods can be used in support of regulatory action.

Current trends in sample preparation for growth promoter and veterinary drug residue analysis

“…Hence, it is common to analyse diaminopoyrimidines together with SA [276][277][278][279][280][281]. Recent review papers by Wang et al [10] and Samanidou et al [318] provide an excellent overview of SAs in foodstuff of animal origin. The authors discuss the chemistry, antimicrobial activity, legislation and provide a comprehensive review of published methods.…”

Determination of sulfonamides in milk by ID-LC-MS/MS

“…The methods reported in the literature for the determination of sulfonamide residues comprise enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) [9,10], capillary electrophoresis [11,12], high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with diode array detection (DAD)/ florescence detection (FLD) [13][14][15][16], gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [17,18], liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) [2,[19][20][21] and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) [20,22]. In order to fulfill the requirements of food safety regulations, methods developed to determine sulfonamide residues in milk should be sensitive, selective and capable of detecting the residues below the maximum residue limits (MRL).…”

“…Microbiological assays are quick, inexpensive, selective but lacking of structural information that might produce false positive results [2]. LC-MS/MS has become most appropriate method for the residue analysis with its high selectivity, sensitivity, decisiveness and its applicability to determine the polar and/or non-volatile compounds without derivatization, including both electrospray and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization methods [18].…”

Development and validation of an LC‐UV method for the determination of sulfonamides in animal feeds

“…The MRL for total sulfonamides in food of animal origin is 100 µg/kg 10. In addition to contributing to the development of antimicrobial resistance, the presence of sulfonamide residues in food‐producing animals is of concern because of the potential carcinogenic activity of these drugs in humans 11…”