Rapid immunochromatographic test strip detection of mabuterol and its cross-reactivity with mapenterol

The misuse of β-agonists constitutes a potential risk to public health and β-agonists has been forbidden in many countries. In this study, we describe an immunochromatographic test strip method for the rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive detection of mabuterol (MAB) and mapenterol (MAP) by cross-reactivity in pig urine. For the immunochromatographic test, the coating antigen which was obtained by conjugating the salbutamol to bovine serum albumin and a goat anti-mouse IgG antibody were drawn onto a nitrocellulose membrane as the control line and test line. The test was developed with a sensitive monoclonal antibody specific for MAB, which was generated by immunizing BALB/c mice with a well-characterized MAB- keyhole limpet haemocyanin conjugate, produced in our laboratory. Under optimized conditions, the cut-off limits of the semi-quantitative test strip for MBA and MPA were as low as 10 ng/mL in both 0.01 M PBS (pH 7.4) and pig urine. All the results were obtained within 5 min. Our data indicate that the immunochromatographic assay allows provide sensitive, rapid, and specific on-site screening for MAB and MAP.