title: Production of ultrasensitive antibodies against aflatoxin B1.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To produce specific antibodies against the haptenic fungal toxin aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and apply these antibodies in immunochemical assays for aflatoxins.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rabbits were immunized using an AFB1-bovine serum albumin conjugate and serum titres determined by double-antibody enzyme immunoassay. High titres of antibodies with very high affinity for AFB1 were obtained 15 and 4 weeks after the initial immunization and the first booster immunization respectively. The antibodies were employed in enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) methods for aflatoxins. With a detection limit of 15.8 pg ml(-1) for AFB1, the EIA employing these antibodies is the most sensitive test for AFB1 described so far. In IAC columns, these antibodies provided high binding capacity for all major aflatoxins, including AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The antibodies described here are useful for the analysis of trace levels of aflatoxins.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Polyclonal antibody-based EIA and IAC methods for aflatoxin analysis offer a suitable alternative to the more expensive monoclonal antibody-based methods.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Hygiene and Technology of Food of Animal Origin, University of Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Gathumbi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Usleber
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Märtlbauer
mesh_terms: D000348:Aflatoxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000191:economics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000276:immunology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity / Q000379:methods; D007114:Immunization; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000379:methods; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D000348:Aflatoxins; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal