A novel hapten and monoclonal-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for sulfonamides in edible animal tissues

For high-throughput monitoring of the residues of sulfonamides (SAs) in edible animal tissues, a novel hapten and monoclonal-based indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) was developed. The novel hapten was synthesized and conjugated to carrier protein as immunogen. The spleen cells of the inoculated mice expressing group-specificity against SAs were fused. The obtained monoclonal antibody 4E5 showed the cross-reactivity (CR) to 16 structurally different SAs. Based on this antibody, an optimised icELISA protocol was carried out with only phosphate-buffered saline for the fast extraction of SAs in the tissues. The limits of detection of SAs in chicken ranged from 1.5 to 22.3 μg kg−1. The recoveries were 70.6–121% with less than 24.1% relative standard deviation. The developed ic-ELISA showed a good correlation with high performance liquid chromatography. It would be a useful tool for the screening of residues of SAs in edible animal tissues.