Development of sensitive and specific immunochromatographic strips with nanoparticles for rapid detection of flumequine

Flumequine (Flu) is a fluoroquinolone veterinary antibiotic, which is easy to accumulate in animals, and Flu residues may cause a latent risk to human physiological health. In this study, a high-affinity monoclonal antibody (2.09 × 10 9  M −1 ) to specifically recognize Flu (anti-Flu mAb) was prepared, and then the lateral flow immunochromatographic strips (LFIS) with excellent sensitivity and specificity were developed by combining mAbs with nanoparticles. The linear detection ranges of LFIS based on gold particles (AuNP-LFIS) and gold nanoflowers (AuNF-LFIS) were 1.95–250 ng/mL and 0.39–100 ng/mL, respectively, and two types of LFIS showed high sensitivity and accuracy in actual sample detection. It is noteworthy that the AuNF-LFIS exhibited a higher sensitivity compared to that of the AuNP-LFIS. The LFIS developed in this study were considered to have great application potential in monitoring food safety because of its superiorities including simple operation, high sensitivity, prompted speed and good specificity.