Novel fabrication of immunochromatographic assay based on up conversion phosphors for sensitive detection of clenbuterol.

A novel and ultra sensitive immunochromatographic assay sensor (ICA) based on up conversion phosphor (UCP) for quantitative detection of clenbuterol (CL) was developed. Monoclonal antibody against CL was labeled with UCP beads. The detection strategy is based on competitive immunoreaction between CL antibodies conjugated to UCP beads and CL or CL antigen on the UCP-ICA sensor. It enables ultra sensitive detection of CL in one single test without complicated sample preparation. Sensing results can be obtained within 10 min. Under optimized conditions, visual limit of detection (vLOD) of UCP-ICA for CL was 0.1 ng/mL. Calculated LOD (cLOD) for CL, as low as 0.01 ng/mL, could be achieved with the UCP-ICA sensor. Recoveries of CL in various sample matrixes ranged from 73.0% to 92.2% and relative standard deviations (RSD) were below 12%. The assay was evaluated with spiked and real samples and the results were compared with liquid chromatography-tandem mass. The developed novel assay method based on UCP could be a potential alternative format for on site and rapid detection of CL as well as other illegal drugs.