Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of nitrofurantoin metabolite, 1-amino-hydantoin, in animal tissues

A sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of 1-amino-hydantoin (AHD) is described. AHD, the marker residue for nitrofurantoin, is a tissue bound toxic metabolite. To monitor the illegal use of nitrofurantoin, a monoclonal antibody-based ELISA method was developed to detect AHD residue in animal tissues. The highly specific antibody against AHD was prepared by monoclonal antibody technology. The antibody exhibited negligible cross reactivity with other nitrofurans, their metabolites and derivatives, and 50% inhibitory concentration was 0.68 μg/L. The limit of detection in four kinds of animal tissues were all below 0.2 μg/kg and recoveries ranged from 75% to 116.7% for fortified samples at levels of 0.2–5 μg/kg with coefficient of variation values below 15%. Analysis of natural contaminated samples by the ELISA method gave similar results to those of the liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. These results indicate the ELISA method is suitable for the detection of AHD residue in animal tissues.