An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the determination of chloramphenicol using a monoclonal antibody. Application to residues in swine muscle tissue.

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a monoclonal antibody is described for the determination of chloramphenicol (CAP) residues in swine muscle tissue. The limit of detection of standard solutions is established to be 25 ng ml-1 = 2.0 ng CAP per well). The very high specificity of the monoclonal antibody for CAP is expressed by the insignificant cross-reactivity with other antimicrobial agents and with structurally related compounds. By means of the rapid sample preparation method described earlier for the CAP determination using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), residue levels of CAP in swine muscle tissue above 5 micrograms kg-1 can be easily quantitated. The muscle samples show good recovery percentages at 10-50 micrograms kg-1 spiking levels. The results obtained by the ELISA method were confirmed by HPLC.