Detection of cholera toxin in seafood using a ganglioside-liposome immunoassay.
Microbiological contamination of foods continues to be a major concern in public health. Biological toxins are one class of important contaminants that can cause various human diseases. Outbreaks related to contamination by biological toxins or toxin-producing microorganisms have made it extremely important to develop rapid (approximately 20 min), sensitive and cost-effective analytical methods. This paper describes the development of a sensitive bioassay for the detection of cholera toxin (CT) in selected seafood samples, using ganglioside-incorporated liposomes. In this study, the assays were run with food samples spiked with various concentrations of CT. The limit of detection (LOD) increased by a factor of about 10-20 in most food samples, compared with the LOD in the buffer system previously reported. However, the LOD of toxins in food samples (8 × 10-3 × 10(3) fg/mL for CT) was still comparable to, or lower than, that previously reported for other assays. The results from this study demonstrate that the bioassays using ganglioside-liposomes can detect the toxin directly in the field screening of food samples rapidly, simply and reliably, without the need for complex instrumentation.
Ahn
Soohyoun
S
Department of Food Science and Technology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Durst
Richard A
RA
D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D017747:Seafood / Q000382:microbiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D005732:Gangliosides; D008081:Liposomes; D002772:Cholera Toxin