Immunochromatographic assay for the detection of antibiotics in animal-derived foods: A review

Nowadays, adverse human reactions such as allergies and organ damage caused by antibiotics, as well as the drug resistance of bacteria have raised popular concern. Due to abuse in livestock production and aquaculture, many countries have established standards limiting the residual amounts of antibiotics in food. Therefore, it is necessary to develop analytical methods for the wholesale screening of antibiotics in animal-derived foods. Immunochromatographic assay (ICA) is suitable for simultaneously analyzing considerable numbers of samples at low cost, with high portability, and faster detection. This review introduces the current research status of ICA for eight categories of antibiotics including chloramphenicols (CAPs), tetracyclines (TCs), quinolones (QNs), sulfonamides (SAs), macrolides (MAs), aminoglycosides (AGs), lincosamides (LMs), and β-lactams in animal-derived foods. We summarize pre-treatment (extraction and clean-up) of ICA for the detection of antibiotics in animal-derived foods. Furthermore, the improved optimization strategies for weaknesses (low sensitivity and efficiency) are summarized. Trends in the development of ICA for detection of antibiotics are also reviewed.