Penicillin ELISA Kit

Penicillin was accidentally detected by Alexander Fleming in 1929. The drug belongs to the mycotoxins and is generated by the mould Penicillium chry­sogenum. Penicillin as an antibiotic is preferentially used in the treatment of gram-positive bacteria, both for humans and animals. Of all illegally administered drugs, antibiotics are most frequently used in produc­tive livestock. Contaminations in food or milk are in­gested by humans, and can lead to severe infections by pathogen germs which became resistant against penicillin, or to allergies. The allergic reactions ap­pear with different severity, dependent on dose and individual disposition, and showing symptoms from urticaria to anaphylactic shock. During routine testing of milk samples for antibiotics, in more than 90% of the positive cases, betalactam preparations or penicillins are detected. The method of choice for the determination of penicil­lin contamination in food has always been a microbi­ological assay. These procedures allow however no quantitative determination and no identification of the antibiotic drug, which is achieved by a sensitive ELISA test kit or immunoaffinity columns together with HPLC.