Hapten Synthesis and the Development of an Ultrasensitive Indirect Competitive ELISA for the Determination of Diethylstilbestrol in Food Samples

An ultrasensitive indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was developed for the specific detection of diethylstilbestrol (DES) residues. To establish an ELISA based on mAbs, hapten diethylstilbestrol mono-carboxypropyl-ether (DES-MCPE) was chemically synthetized and then conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) for immunization in mice. This ic ELISA was further optimized for DES determination. The sensitivity of the ic ELISA was found to be 0.49 μg/kg and the limit of detection was 0.075 μg/kg. DES residues in salmon meat and pork were tested with the recovery range from 74.0 to 85.2% and the coefficient of variation (CV) was less than 10%. Parallel analysis of DES samples from salmon meat showed comparable results from the ic ELISA with high-performance liquid chromatography. The ic ELISA provides a useful screening method for the quantitative detection of DES residues in animal-derived food.