Enzyme-linked immunosorbent limitations

Biological techniques, e.g., immunoassays, are among the most sensitive analytical methods, but are limited by the availability of the specific antisera and are subject to cross-reactivity. Huang et al. [36] employed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determination of estradiol, its conjugates, and ethynylestradiol in wastewaster treatment plant effluents (see Table 4). The reported limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 ng L 1 reflects the sen-... 

The traditional microbiological methods are very time consuming and sometimes limited concerning their interpretation. For that reason fast analysis methods as well as automated methods have been developed the latter are often used in specialised microbiological laboratories. During the last few years more and more modern biotechnological methods have been implemented into quality control, for example the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or more recently the polymerase chain reaction, which allows the detection of very specific microorganisms. 

The assessment of DNA adducts may provide a sensitive indicatCH of previous exposure. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has a lower limit of detection of about 0.08 femtomol per microgram of DNA (Perera et oL, 1982). This assay requires (1) the development of an antibody specific for a certain chemical metabolite bound covalently to DNA and (2) the isolation of DNA from some tissue sample, ag., skin biopsy, or lymphocytes of an exposed individual. It is anticipated that further refinement of such immunologic techniques may lower the threshold of sensitivity by one or two orders of magnitude. One such refined test is the ifitrasensitive ymatic radioimmunoassay (USE-RIA), purported to be about five times more sensitive than ELISA (Hsu et oL, 1981 Shamsuddin et oL, 1985 Harris et oL, 1985). Quantification by the development of monoclonal antibodies to aflatoxin Bj metabolites bound to DNA (Groopman et oL, 1982 Sizaret et oL, 1982) has now been reported. 

For all of these targets the versatility of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) qualifies this method as an almost universal detection platform, using the highly specific recognition potential of antibodies in conjugation with a detection enzyme and various signal-generating substrates [8, 9]. In contrast to the enormous amplification power of the PCR, these enzymatic methods normally have a detection limit of several millions of molecules. 

Eig. 5. Several endpoint detection methods were compared for the detection of immuno-polymerase chain reaction (IPCR) amplificate from a direct IPCR (Fig. 3A) of mouse-IgG. Although all IPCR/DNA-detection combinations were able to improve the detection limit of a comparable enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) of approximately 10 amol IgG in a 30-fL sample volume, several differences were observed in actual detection limit, and the linearity of the concentration/signal ratio dependent on the DNA quantification was applied. Best results were obtained for PCR-ELISA (see also Fig. 6) in combination with fluorescence- or chemiluminescence-generating substrates (b, c). With photometric substrates (d) or gel electrophoresis and subsequent spot densitometry (a), a 10-fold decrease in sensitivity was observed. In addition to the more sigmoid curve in gel electrophoresis, an enhanced overall error of 20% compared to 13% in PCR-ELISA was observed for two independent assays. The simple addition of a double-strand sensitive intercalation marker to the PCR-amplificate and measurement in a fluorescence spectrometer further decreased sensitivity (e) and appears therefore to be unsuited for IPCR amplificate quantification. (Figure modified according to references 37 and 65.)... 

Pharmacokinetic data analysis requires determination of the analyte in various body fluids. In the case of therapeutic antibodies, serum is the most common matrix to be analyzed. For a critical interpretation of pharmacokinetic data the chosen bioanalytical methods must be considered. The most frequently used for mAbs include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), capillary electrophoresis (CE)/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The challenges and limitations of bioanalytical methods used for the analysis of mAb concentrations are discussed in detail in Chapter 6. 

As can be seen in Table 8.2, several immunochemical techniques, principally enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), have been developed and applied to environmental samples such as water, soil, and sediments with very good limits of detection (LOD).49-51... 

High sensitivity. Detecdon limits are in the range of 0.05-5 pmol/mol of unmodified parent base. This compares well to the sensidvides of commonly used methods, such as high pressure liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (6,7), radiochromatographic analysis (8), radioimmunoassays, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (9,10). 

Radioactivity, however, is still a very sensitive means of measuring the presence or absence of a given material. Assay methodology has now come full circle, to the development of an ultrasensitive enzyme RIA. In this technique, an antigen is bound to a solid phase. Antibody will bind to the antigen, which could be a drug-protein conjugate, and the presence of bound antibody is detected by means of a second antibody coupled to alkaline phosphatase. So far this is the standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, if the substrate is tritium-labeled adenosine monophosphate, it is converted by the enzyme to tritium-labeled adenosine, which may be readily separated and measured. The detection limit for this assay for cholera toxin is approximately 600 molecules of the toxin (22). 

Reports concerning metallothionein in plasma and urine of Cd-exposed persons are limited [47-49]. This is at least in part due to the fact that the accurate measurement of Cd and metallothionein levels in plasma appears to be difficult [50]. The concentration of metallothionein in urine and blood has to be measured using the Onosaka saturation method, radio-immunoassay (RIA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The detection limits in human serum and urine for metallothionein by RIA is 1 pg [50]. For ELISA the detection limits are higher. Normal values range between 0.01-1 ng/ml for serum and between 1-10 ng/ml for urine. Metallothionein concentrations in Cd-exposed workers are reported to vary between 2-11 ng/ml in plasma and 2-155 ng/ml in urine [47]. 

Analysis of taxanes is performed almost exclusively by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Immunological techniques [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), radioimmunoassay (RIA)] have found minimal use in screening human plasma and plant extracts. Such biological methods suffer from cross reactivity of several taxanes with paclitaxel and their use is thus limited in semiquantitative aspects. 

Several enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAS) have been developed for trinitrotoluene, trinitrobenzene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, and 2,6-dinitrotoluene using polyclonal antibodies raised in New Zealand white rabbits. Nitro substituted benzoic and phenyl acetic acids were used as haptens by conversion to the correspond NHS esters followed by coupling to protein carriers.The antibodies which were developed to 1,3-dinitroaromatic haptens had the greatest specificity and sensitivity when the nitroaromatic analytes contained a 1,3-dinitro functionality. In one ELISA system a lower detection limit for various 1,3-dinitroaromatics analytes of 1 ng/mL with an I50 of 5 ng/mL was observed. No cross reactivity with mononitroaromatic compounds was observed. Antibodies developed to mononitroaromatic haptens showed high affinity for a variety of coating antigens but would not compete with nitroaromatic analytes in a normal ELISA. 

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