Generic simple enzyme immunoassay approach to avert small molecule immobilization problems on solid phases: Application to the determination of tobramycin in serum

Generic simple and sensitive universal enzyme immunoassay approach for the determination of small analytes has been developed to avert the problems associated with small molecule immobilization onto solid phases. The developed assay employed a heterogeneous non-competitive binding format. The assay used anti-analyte antibody coupled to polyacrylamide beads as a solid-phase and β-d-galactosidase enzyme-labeled analyte as a label. In this assay, the analyte in a sample was firstly incubated to react with an excess of the antibody-coupled beads, and then the unoccupied antibody binding sites were allowed to react with the enzyme-labeled analyte. Analyte bound to the antibody-coupled beads was separated by centrifugation, and the enzyme activity of the supernatant was measured spectrophotometrically at 420 nm, after reaction with 4-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside as a substrate for the enzyme. The signal was directly proportional to the concentration of analyte in the sample. The optimum conditions for the developed assay were established and applied to the determination of tobramycin, as a representative example of the small analytes, in serum samples. The assay limit of detection was 10 ng mL−1 and the effective working range at relative standard deviation of ≤10% was 40–800 ng mL−1. The assay precisions were acceptable; the relative standard deviations were 4.36–5.17 and 5.62–7.40% for intra- and inter-assay precision, respectively. Analytical recovery of tobramycin spiked in serum ranged from 95.89 ± 4.25 to 103.45 ± 4.60%. The assay results correlated well with those obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography (r = 0.992). The assay described herein has great practical value in determination of small analytes because it is sensitive, rapid, and easy to perform in any laboratory. Although the assay was validated for tobramycin, however, it is also anticipated that the same methodology could be used for essentially any analyte for which a selective antibody exists, and an appropriate enzyme conjugate can be made.