High‐sensitivity chemiluminescent immunoassay investigation and application for the detection of T‐2 toxin and major metabolite HT‐2 toxin

Abstract BACKGROUND T‐2 toxin is a widely distributed mycotoxin in cereals. HT ‐2 toxin is the major metabolite, which is also a contaminant in cereals. T‐2 toxin and HT ‐2 toxin have been identified as having carcinogenic, hepatotoxic, teratogenic and immunotoxic properties. To reduce the risk of contamination, a rapid, highly sensitive and inexpensive assay for the detection is required. RESULTS In this study a high‐sensitivity chemiluminescent enzyme‐linked immunoassay ( CL‐ELISA ) of T‐2 toxin and HT ‐2 toxin was developed. With the help of the chemiluminescent substrate, this protocol showed a highly sensitive character with an IC 50 as low as 33.28 ng mL −1 and 27.27 ng mL −1 for T‐2 and HT ‐2, respectively. In addition, this method had no cross‐reaction with other structurally related mycotoxins. CONCLUSION These results indicated that the developed CL‐ELISA could be applied for the detection of T‐2 toxin and HT ‐2 toxin in actual samples without complicated steps. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry