Multi-detection method for five common microalgal toxins based on the use of microspheres coupled to a flow-cytometry system

The multidisciplinary approach to safety and toxicity assessment of microalgae-based food supplements following clinical cases of poisoning

“…As microalgae-based supplements are usually used chronically or over a certain period of time, the presence of any of these toxins could lead to serious health problems. Due to the wide geographical distribution of cyanobacterial species capable of producing MCs, CYN, ANA-A and other toxic metabolites, any routine programmes designed to monitor the quality of microalgae-based supplements should consider analyses of their content, preferably using recently developed multi-detection methods (Fraga et al, 2014). As found in XRF analyses, all dietary products contained significant levels of Al with the highest content found in the CHLOR-TOX supplement.…”

Detection of palytoxin-like compounds by a flow cytometry-based immunoassay supported by functional and analytical methods

“…This microsphere-based immunoassay for PLTX-like molecules performs similarly, in terms of sensitivity, to previously published immuno-detection methods using the same anti-PLTXmAb [28][29][30], and it is 100 times more sensitive than the fluorescence polarization receptorbased method [27]. This single, semi-quantitative screening tool is based on the use of a commercially available technology, Luminex, that offers the possibility of combining different single-detection assays, as those developed for some aquatic toxins [38][39][40], in multi-detection methods [33,34], which would allow saving precious amounts of sample and experimental time.…”

“…showed adequate performance after 6 months of storage, as observed for other toxin-coated microspheres [33]. Aliquots of the PLTX-coated microsphere batch were taken as needed to perform detection assays.…”

Development of an improved stationary liquid-phase lab-on-a-chip for the field monitoring of paralytic shellfish toxins

“…Other techniques, including HPLC 4-6 , ELISA [7][8][9][10][11][12] , and immunoassay methods coupled with other detection strategies (such as surface plasmon resonance 13,14 , polymerase chain reaction 15 , microsphereflow cytometry 16,17 , and microarray 18,19 ) are unsuitable for field applications because they require instrumentation that is confined to the lab environment. Although lateral flow immunoassay methods have been developed for field monitoring 20,21 , they suffer from low sensitivity and reliability 22 .…”