Water immiscible solvent based immunoassay

A competitive monoclonal antibody-based immunoassay which quantifies a hydrophobic hapten (R-X) in water immiscible solvents, obviating the need of a pre-extraction step, has been developed. Approximately linear dose response profiles of analyte, over the range 1-20 ugml(-1) in the hydrophobic solvents, hexane, toluene and xylene were obtained. UV spectrophotometric analyses of R-X dosed hexane confirm the phenomenon of antibody-mediated transfer of analyte from the organic to the aqueous milieu, Preliminary data on the effect of water immiscible solvents on the immunoreactivity of a monoclonal antibody in free solution are presented. The potential industrial applications of water immiscible solvent based immunoassays are discussed.