Comparison of three immunological methods for detecting staphylococcal enterotoxins from food

Abstract

Aims: Immunologically based assays for the detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins are numerous. These techniques include radio immunosorbent assays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), some of which are available as commercial kits. The purpose of this study was to compare the performances of three commercial immunoassays. Methods and Results: Two automated detection systems, VIDAS™ SET bioMèrieux, VIDAS™ SET2 bioMérieux and an ELISA method, TRANSIA PLATE Staphylococcal Enterotoxins Diffchamb were compared for detecting different quantities of purified staphylococcal enterotoxins (A, B, C2, D and E) added to food. Conclusions: VIDAS™ SET2 had a greater specificity (100%) and sensitivity than VIDAS™ SET and TRANSIA PLATE Staphylococcal Enterotoxins. More precisely, VIDAS™ SET2 could detect <0-5 ng g-1 of toxins A and B, <1 ng g-1 of toxins C2 and E and 1 ng g-1 of toxins D and E. Significance and Impact of the Study: Because staphylococcal food poisoning (resulting from ingestion of low levels of staphylococcal enterotoxins) is one of the most common forms of foodborne illness there is a need for specific and sensitive methods for detecting these enterotoxins. VIDAS™ SET2 appears to be suitable for detecting staphylococcal enterotoxins from food.