Summary
Azaspiracids have recurred regularly in Northern European shellfish since their discovery in November 1995 in Irish mussels. Their presence in shellfish poses a risk of acute nausea, vomiting and severe diarrhoea in human consumers and chronic effects are suspected. There is an urgent need for sensitive, simple, rapid, affordable methods with a high sample throughput. Here we report the first production of antibodies against azaspiracids. A synthetic hapten representing the common C-28–C-40 domain of all the known azaspiracids was synthesised, conjugated to a carrier protein, and used to immunise sheep for antibody production in both Norway and New Zealand. The resulting antiserum have been utilised to develop an ELISA for azaspiracids and immunoaffinity columns. The antibodies recognise the synthetic hapten, AZA-1 and the azaspiracid analogues AZA-2, -3 & -6. Preliminary results indicate that the assay distinguish between samples positive and negative by LC-MS analysis. Further optimisation of the application of the antibodies in immunoassays is under way. Progress to date and potential applications will be summarised.