Utilization of a lateral flow colloidal gold immunoassay strip based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for ultrasensitive detection of antibiotics in milk

An ultrasensitive method for the detection of antibiotics in milk is developed based on inexpensive, simple, rapid and portable lateral flow immunoassay (LFI) strip, in combination with high sensitivity surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). In our strategy, an immunoprobe was prepared from colloidal gold (AuNPs) conjugated with both a monoclonal antibody against neomycin (NEO-mAb) and a Raman probe molecule 4-aminothiophenol (PATP). The competitive interaction with immunoprobe between free NEO and the coated antigen (NEO-OVA) resulted in the change of the amount of the immobilized immunoprobe on the paper substrate. The LFI procedure was completed within 15   min. The Raman intensity of PATP on the test line of the LFI strip was measured for the quantitative determination of NEO. The IC 50 and the limit of detection (LOD) of this assay are 0.04   ng/mL and 0.216   pg/mL of NEO, respectively. There is no cross-reactivity (CR) of the assay with other compounds, showing high specificity of the assay. The recoveries for milk samples with added NEO are in the range of 89.7%–105.6% with the relative standard deviations (RSD) of 2.4%–5.3% ( n   =   3). The result reveals that this method possesses high specificity, sensitivity, reproducibility and stability, and can be used to detect a variety of antibiotic residues in milk samples.