Polystyrene Microsphere-Based Immunochromatographic Assay for Detection of Aflatoxin B1 in Maize

Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a mycotoxin, is hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, and nephrotoxic in humans and animals, and contaminate a wide range of maize. In this study, an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) based on polystyrene microspheres (PMs) was developed for sensitive and quantitative detection of AFB1 in maize. The amounts of PMs, the condition for activating carboxyl groups of PMs, the amount of monoclonal antibody (mAb), and the volume of the immune probe were optimized to enhance the performance PMs-ICA for point-of-care testing of AFB1 in maize. The PMs-ICA showed the cut-off value of 1 ng/mL in phosphate buffer (PB) and 6 µg/kg in maize samples, respectively. The quantitative limit of detection (qLOD) was 0.27 and 1.43 µg/kg in PB and maize samples, respectively. The accuracy and precision of the PMs-ICA were evaluated by analysis of spiked maize samples with recoveries of 96.0% to 107.6% with coefficients of variation below 10%. In addition, the reliability of PMs-ICA was confirmed by the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. The results indicated that the PMs-ICA could be used as a sensitive, simple, rapid point-of-care testing of AFB1 in maize.

Development of a Rapid Gold Nanoflowers Immunochromatographic Test Strip Based on the Nanobody for Detection of Aflatoxin B1

“…Nevertheless, it exhibits relatively low sensitivity due to the weak signal and poor colloidal stability. [16][17] In order to improve the sensitivity of ICTS for AFB 1 detection, many studies focused on novel nanomaterials and strategies, such as magnetic nanoparticles (MNPS), [18][19] quantum dots (QDs), [20][21] MnO 2 nanosheets, [22] polystyrene microspheres (PMs), [23] etc. Unfortunately, the applicability of these signal labels rely on complex preparation and chemical activation processes, which may result in the destruction of a large number of antibody biocompatibility, thereby influencing the sensitivity of detection.…”

Improvement of the sensitivity of lateral flow systems for detecting mycotoxins: Up‐to‐date strategies and future perspectives

“…They exhibit the advantages of providing accurate and reliable results, wide detection range, high sensitivity, and simultaneous detection of multiple mycotoxins, including modified mycotoxins (Birr et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2022). However, the instruments are expensive and immobile, require skilled personnel, and have high detection costs (Lan et al., 2019; Wang, Li, Shen, et al., 2021).…”