Abstract
Rubratoxin B was coupled to ovalbumin using l-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyaminopropyl) carbodiimide HCl (ECDI) in high concentration at pH 8.O. Under these conditions it was possible to couple 13 moles of rubratoxin B per mole of ovalbumin. The conjugate was used for immunization of rabbits, and anti-rubratoxin antibody was produced. A radioimmunoassay for rubratoxin B was developed which could detect 0.1 μg 10 μg of toxin using 0.21 μg of [14C] rubratoxin (0.47 Ci/mole, 2.0×109 dpm/μg) and 0.125 ml of anti-rubratoxin antibody.
Rubratoxicosis was first described in 1957 by Burnside et al. (3) after finding that corn infected with Penicillium rubrum Stoll caused death in swine. Wilson and Wilson (20, 21) reported the isolation of the toxic substance from cultures of P. rubrum in 1962, and the structure of rubratoxin B, shown in Fig. 1, was subsequently determined by Moss (12, 13).
Although the gross and histopathological lesions induced by rubratoxin B have been described (3, 19, 22), there are no clinical, pathological or biochemical changes which are specific for the diagnosis of rubratoxicosis (15). It is therefore necessary to isolate the toxin to show its presence. This is only possible with feed samples when there is a large quantity available for extraction, because the 0.5 μg sensitivity of the current technique (8) is not sufficient to detect residue from a lethal dose of ingested rubratoxin in animal tissue.
It was the purpose of this study to investigate the possibility of adapting the more sensitive radioimmunoassay to the detection of rubratoxin B.
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Davis, R.M., Stone, S.S. Production of anti-rubratoxin antibody and its use in a radioimmunoassay for rubratoxin B. Mycopathologia 67, 29–33 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00436237
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00436237