Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and enzyme-linked coagulation assay for detection of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins A, B, and E and solution-phase complexes with dual-label antibodies.

The measurement of toxins A, B, and E from Clostridium botulinum was accomplished by use of a modified sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) employing labeled horse antibody and either chicken antibody or biotinylated horse antibody. The complexes formed in solution phase were captured onto solid phases coated with rabbit anti-chicken immunoglobulin G (chicken antibody) or avidin (biotinylated antibody). The assay was brought to the sensitivity of the mouse bioassay (5 to 10 pg/ml, or 0.03 to 0.07 pM) by employing as labeling enzyme the factor X activator of Russell's viper venom (RVV-XA) and a sensitive coagulation-based assay amplification system known as enzyme-linked coagulation assay. Complex formation was found to be a slower reaction than binding to the capture plate, and so the assay used a preincubation step to produce the solution-phase complexes before they were bound to the solid phase. Keeping the concentrations of Russell's viper venom factor X activator antibody and capture antibody constant for diluted samples and diluting complexes into buffer without keeping labeled antibody concentrations constant were equivalent in allowing the detection of low neurotoxin concentrations. This ELISA-enzyme-linked coagulation assay procedure is a convenient alternative to the mouse bioassay, which shows complete resolution of the neurotoxins in addition to the requisite sensitivity.