Biosensor immunoassay for flumequine in broiler serum and muscle Original Research Article

Flumequine (Flu) is one of the fluoroquinolones most frequently applied for the treatment of broilers in The Netherlands. For the detection of residues of Flu in blood serum of broilers, a biosensor immunoassay (BIA) was developed which was fast (7.5 min per sample) and specific (no cross-reactivity with other (fluoro)quinolones). This inhibition assay was based on a rabbit polyclonal anti-Flu serum and a CM5 biosensor chip coated with Flu which could be detected in the range of 15–800 ng mL−1. For the detection of Flu in muscle, an easy extraction procedure in buffer was selected and the measuring range was from 24 to 4000 ng g−1. Average recoveries of 66 till 75% were found with muscle samples spiked at 0.5, 1 and 2 times the maximum residue limit (MRL in muscle = 400 ng g−1) and the decision limit (CCα) and the detection capability (CCβ) were determined as 500 and 600 ng g−1, respectively. Incurred muscle samples were analysed by the BIA and by LC-MS/MS and a good correlation was found (R2 = 0.998). Serum and muscle samples from with Flu treated broilers were analysed and the concentrations found in serum were always higher than those found in muscle (average serum/muscle ratio was 3.5) and this proved the applicability of the BIA in serum as predictor of the Flu concentration in muscle.