title: Recommended Immunological Assays to Screen for Ricin-Containing Samples.
abstract: Ricin, a toxin from the plant Ricinus communis, is one of the most toxic biological agents known. Due to its availability, toxicity, ease of production and absence of curative treatments, ricin has been classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as category B biological weapon and it is scheduled as a List 1 compound in the Chemical Weapons Convention. An international proficiency test (PT) was conducted to evaluate detection and quantification capabilities of 17 expert laboratories. In this exercise one goal was to analyse the laboratories' capacity to detect and differentiate ricin and the less toxic, but highly homologuous protein R. communis agglutinin (RCA120). Six analytical strategies are presented in this paper based on immunological assays (four immunoenzymatic assays and two immunochromatographic tests). Using these immunological methods "dangerous" samples containing ricin and/or RCA120 were successfully identified. Based on different antibodies used the detection and quantification of ricin and RCA120 was successful. The ricin PT highlighted the performance of different immunological approaches that are exemplarily recommended for highly sensitive and precise quantification of ricin.
authors.affiliation: CEA Saclay, Institute of Biology and Technologies of Saclay, Laboratory for Immunoanalytical Researches, Gif-sur-Yvette 91191 cedex, France. stephanie.simon@cea.fr.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Biological Toxins, Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany. worbss@rki.de.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Worbs
authors.affiliation: Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport-SPIEZ Laboratory, Spiez 3700, Switzerland. marc-andre.avondet@babs.admin.ch.
authors.forename: Marc-André
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Avondet
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology & Enteric Diseases Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada,Winnipeg, MB R3E 3R2, Canada. dobryan.tracz@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Dobryan M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Tracz
authors.affiliation: CEA Saclay, Institute of Biology and Technologies of Saclay, Laboratory for Immunoanalytical Researches, Gif-sur-Yvette 91191 cedex, France. julie.dano@cea.fr.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dano
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology & Enteric Diseases Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada,Winnipeg, MB R3E 3R2, Canada. lisa.rostek@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: CEA Saclay, Institute of Biology and Technologies of Saclay, Laboratory for Immunoanalytical Researches, Gif-sur-Yvette 91191 cedex, France. herve.volland@cea.fr.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Volland
authors.affiliation: Biological Toxins, Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany. dornerb@rki.de.
authors.forename: Brigitte G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Dorner
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology & Enteric Diseases Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada,Winnipeg, MB R3E 3R2, Canada. cindi.corbett@phac-aspc.gc.ca.|Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. cindi.corbett@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Cindi R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Corbett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D002021:Buffers; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000032:analysis; D007118:Immunoassay; D059021:Laboratory Proficiency Testing; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry; D037121:Plant Lectins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D012276:Ricin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D002021:Buffers; D005308:Fertilizers; D037121:Plant Lectins; C017707:Ricinus communis agglutinin-1; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D012276:Ricin
keywords: enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; immunological detection; lateral flow assay; proficiency test; ricin