Development of a polarization fluoroimmunoassay for sulfamethazine using an automated analyser

Abstract

A rapid, non-isotopic, polarization fluoroimmunoassay for the antibiotic sulfamethazine has been developed. The influence of the structure of fluorescein-labelled tracers on the sensitivity of the assay was investigated. Reagents were adapted for use with the Abbott TDx Analyzer and existing software was adapted for automated analyses. Total time for the assay of 1 and 20 samples was 14 and 22 min, respectively. All analytical criteria for the assay were satisfied. The detection limit for sulfamethazine in 20 µl of aqueous sample was 10 ng ml^–1(200 pg), which compares well with the sensitivity of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay methods.