Zilpaterol is an
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-adrenergic agonist approved for use in cattle in South Africa and Mexico as a growthpromoter. It is not currently approved for use in the EU, USA, or Asia. Here, we report the developmentof an ELISA for zilpaterol. Zilpaterol was reacted with ethyl 4-bromobutyrate followed by refluxing in0.1 M potassium hydroxide. The resulting hapten was reacted with two carrier proteins, bovine serumalbumin (BSA) or keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) as an activating agent. Immunization of goats with the zilpaterol-butyrate-KLHresulted in an antibody useful for an ELISA. We utilized zilpaterol-butyrate-BSA as a coating antigenfor ELISA development. The average IC
50 derived from the developed zilpaterol immunoassay was3.94 ± 0.48 ng/mL (
n = 25). The antibody did not cross react with
N-alkyl [bamethane, clenbuterol,(-)-isoproterenol, (+)-isoproterenol, metaproterenol, or salbutamol] or
N-arylalkyl (dobutamine,fenoterol, isoxsuprine, ractopamine, or
salmeterol)
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-agonists. The assay was tolerant of up to 10%(v/v) of acetone, ethanol, or methanol, and 15% (v/v) of acetonitrile or DMSO. Salt concentrationsranging from 0.05 to 1.0 M minimally affected
B0 or IC
50 values. When buffer pH was <7 or >8.8, theIC
50 values increased in comparison to those measured at pH 7.4. In conclusion, a sensitive, specificzilpaterol ELISA has been developed that can serve as a rapid screening assay.Keywords: Antibody; analysis; ELISA; assay; zilpaterol;
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-agonist; growth promoter