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Rapid analysis of diclofenac in freshwater and wastewater by a monoclonal antibody-based highly sensitive ELISA

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Abstract

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac (DCF) is found worldwide in the aqueous environment. Therefore, it has raised increased public concern on potential long-term impact on human health and wildlife. The importance of DCF has been emphasized by the European Union recently by including this pharmaceutical in the first watch list of priority hazardous substances in order to gather Union-wide monitoring data. Rapid and cheap methods of analysis are therefore required for fresh and wastewater monitoring with high sample load. Here, for the first time, well-characterized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against DCF were generated and a highly sensitive ELISA developed. The best antibody (mAb 12G5) is highly affine (KD = 1.5 × 10−10 M), stable to potential matrix interferences such as pH value (pH range 5.2–9.2), calcium ion concentration (up to 75 mg/L), and humic acid content (up to 20 mg/L). The limit of detection (LOD, S/N = 3) and IC50 of the ELISA calibration curve were 7.8 and 44 ng/L, respectively. The working range was defined between 11 and 180 ng/L. On average, about 10 % cross-reactivity (CR) was found for DCF metabolites 5-OH-DCF, 4’-OH-DCF, and DCF-acyl glucuronide, but other structurally related NSAIDs showed binding <1 % compared to the parent compound. While DCF concentrations at the low ppt range were measured in river and lake water, higher values of 2.9 and 2.1 μg/L were found in wastewater influents and effluents, respectively. These results could be confirmed by solid phase extraction combined with LC-MS.

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Abbreviations

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

CCS:

Cell culture supernatant

CR:

Cross-reactivity

DCF:

Diclofenac

DCF-GLU:

Diclofenac-acyl glucuronide

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

HRP:

Horseradish peroxidase

IC50 :

Molar analyte concentration giving 50 % inhibition

LOD:

Limit of detection

LOQ:

Limit of quantification

OVA:

Ovalbumin

PBS:

Phosphate buffered saline

PBST:

PBS with 0.05 % Tween 20

RT:

Room temperature

SPE:

Solid phase extraction

SPR:

Surface plasmon resonance

TG:

Thyroglobulin

TMB:

Tetramethylbenzidine

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Acknowledgments

This work was co-financed by ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) - DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) program, project ‘NArBioS’ (grant ANR-11-INTB-1013). We appreciate the generous gifts of metabolites 5-OH-DCF (from Dr. Gregory Roth† Sandford Burnham Medical Institute in Orlando, USA) and 4-’OH-DCF and DCF-GLU (from Dr. Ron Scialis, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA). Further, we thank Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. for the generous support.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hydrochemistry and Chemical Balneology, Chair of Analytical Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Marchioninistrasse 17, 81377, München, Germany

    Maria Huebner, Reinhard Niessner & Dietmar Knopp

  2. Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Medical Faculty, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Hollystrasse 1, 06114, Halle, Germany

    Ekkehard Weber

  3. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC UnivParis6, UMRCNRS7197 Laboratoire de Réactivité de Surface, 75005, Paris, France

    Souhir Boujday

  4. CNRS, UMR7197, Laboratoire de Réactivité de Surface, 75005, Paris, France

    Souhir Boujday

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  1. Maria Huebner
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  3. Reinhard Niessner
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  5. Dietmar Knopp
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Correspondence to Dietmar Knopp.

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Huebner, M., Weber, E., Niessner, R. et al. Rapid analysis of diclofenac in freshwater and wastewater by a monoclonal antibody-based highly sensitive ELISA. Anal Bioanal Chem 407, 8873–8882 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9048-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9048-9

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