Generic sulphonamide drug residue test kit will be an indispensable tool in routine screening for numerous compounds from this family of antibacterial drugs in food of animal origin
Biacore has launched a new rapid screening kit for the detection of sulphonamide drug residues to meet statutory requirements.
The Qflex Kit sulphonamides will be an indispensable tool in routine screening for numerous compounds from this family of antibacterial drugs in food products of animal origin, says the company.
Existing screening tests for the sulphonamides tend to be specific for one particular sulphonamide drug compound. Furthermore, current tests can be affected by interference from N-acetyl metabolites of the sulphonamides.
Both producers and government surveillance schemes need technology and methods that provide rapid, accurate results that are also reliable at the required sensitivity.
This is to prevent these chemical residues from entering the food chain, which could result in toxic or allergic reaction, or the possible development of resistance factors in the human population.
The combination of Biacore Q system and Qflex Kit sulphonamides facilitates routine end use for the rapid detection of sulphonamide residues in meat products.
Providing an unrivalled alternative to traditional methods, the assay is a robust, automated, label-free inhibition method reducing the risk of experimental errors.
Sample preparation is minimal and results are available in hours.
Qflex kits also provide the flexibility required for further method development if required.
"Biacore Q system for concentration analysis, together with our leading sensor chip technology and the Qflex kits enhance both the reliable detection of the sulphonamides and the ability of the food industry to ensure food safety and quality," said Esa Stenberg, vice president and head of food business unit at Biacore.
"This is important to satisfy customer concerns on food safety, fulfill statutory testing requirements and crucially, allows the monitoring of meat product imports for this chemical contaminant". Sulphonamides have both therapeutic and prophylactic applications in veterinary medicine.
The EU has established a Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) of 100ppb for all parent drugs (or combination of sulphonamides) in edible tissue.
The USA has applied similar residue limits.
The resistance of animal pathogens to sulphonamides is widespread as a result of more than 50 years of therapeutic use.
Repeated low dosage is the ideal environment within which resistance factors can develop and spread.
This has reduced the effectiveness of sulphonamide use in veterinary medicine and could have serious implications for human medicine. Qflex Kit sulphonamides contains a sensor chip and all critical reagents required to perform the inhibition assay, including a reference standard.
The new sulphonamides kit is an important addition to the Qflex portfolio for drug residues, which also includes kits for the detection of clenbuterol, multi-B-agonists, ractopamine, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, sulphamethazine and sulphadiazine.
An application note detailing use of the new Qflex Kit is available on request.
In this note, scientists at Xensosense demonstrate that following simple sample preparation, the kit provides highly accurate results for 40 porcine muscle samples within five hours.
