Lateral Flow Immunochromatography Assay for Detection of Furosemide in Slimming Health Foods

In recent years, furosemide has been found to be abused in slimming health foods. There is an urgent need for a simpler, faster method for detecting furosemide in slimming health foods. In this study, a rapid, convenient and sensitive lateral flow immunochromatography (LFIA) based on Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) was established for the first time. Under optimal conditions, the qualitative limit of detection (LOD) of the AuNPs-based LFIA was 1.0~1.2 μg/g in slimming health foods with different substrates. AuNPs-LFIA could specifically detect furosemide within 12 min (including sample pretreatment) and be read by the naked eye. The developed AuNPs-LFIA showed high consistency with liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and no false positive or false negative results were found in spiked slimming health foods, proving that the AuNPs-LFIA should be accurate and reliable. The AuNPs-LFIA reported here provides a serviceable analytical tool for the on-site detection and rapid initial screening of furosemide for the first time.