AFFINILUTE™ MIP - Fluoroquinolones

Class-selective SPE sorbent for extraction of fluoroquinolones (FQLs) from food samples e.g. kidney, milk and honey

FQL's comprise a group of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents which are widely used medicinally and to treat infections in farmed fish, shrimp, turkeys, pigs, cattle and poultry. The presence of this antibiotic class in the environment at sub-therapeutic levels can lead to multiple FQL-resistant bacterial strains. When used to treat animals, FQLs may enter the human food chain causing allergic reactions and also leading to the development of FQL-resistant strains of bacteria. Monitoring FQL residues at trace levels is therefore regulated by law. The EU has set strict Maximum Residue Limits (MRL's), the values of which depend on the particular compound and matrix, e.g. the MRL for enrofloxacin in bovine kidney is set at 200µg/kg. The US, Canada and Japan have also set MRL's but for a more limited range of quinolones.

Features and Applications
AFFINILUTE MIP - Fluoroquinolones is a simple, fast, selective and sensitive SPE product for selective extraction of FQL residues in food samples. The SPE phase has been developed for multi-residue extraction of FQL's and has been validated for sarafloxacin, norfloxacin, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, lomefloxacin and ofloxacin. Recoveries are high and reproducible and the precision of the method is also high with an RSD value below 10% for all compounds tested.

With this simple, single SPE cartridge method, the same limits of quantification are achieved compared with competitor methodologies which require the use of multiple SPE cartridge steps. It is also possible to use the AFFINILUTE MIP - Fluoroquinolones cartridges in automated solid-phase extraction systems. A data sheet for extraction of FQL's from kidney, milk and honey with LC-MS/MS detection is available.