Synthesis of a newly designed artificial antigen and preparation of a polyclonal antibody against salbutamol

Salbutamol is a β-agonist which is strictly prohibited in food production. Designing a rapid immunoassay detection method is essential for effective supervision, and synthesis of antigen is the key to successful antibody production. In this study, a new method of synthesising immunogen and coating antigen for ELISA was established, using methanal as a linker to connect salbutamol sulphate with the carrier proteins bovine serum albumin and ovalbumin. The conjugates were identified through UV spectrophotometry and SDS–PAGE, and the amino groups in proteins were measured using 2,4,6,-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid. Immunisation of rabbits with immunogen produced a polyclonal antibody with high sensitivity and specificity. Indirect and competitive indirect ELISAs were used to determine antibody titre and IC₅₀, which were 1,280,000 and 0.736 ng mL⁻¹, respectively.