Intended Use

The IVD Research E. coli Verotoxin assay is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that may be used to screen meat products for the presence of verotoxin.

Summary

The verotoxin (VT), or shiga-like toxin family is a group of closely related toxins produced by certain strains of Escherichia coli.4 These strains are a significant cause of human hemorrhagic colitis (HC) and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). 1,3,7-8,12 In addition, they are both water borne and food borne and may also be transmitted from person-to-person by the oral-fecal route.2 In adults, illness caused by verotoxin may last several days, while in children and the elderly, the illness can be fatal.2,11 Infections occur as sporadic illnesses or outbreaks, and are distributed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia.4,11 The peak incidence of infection occurs during summer months.4 In the past, lengthy and cumbersome diagnostic procedures have been utilized for the detection of verotoxin.3-5,8,10 Currently, simple to perform enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) are being used as an alternative to these longer tedious methods. 5-6,9-10 These antigen-detection assays provide a cost effective tool for the management of diarrheal disease with an accurate and rapid test.6,9-10.

Principle of Procedure

During the first incubation, verotoxin antigen in the sample is captured by antibodies attached to the wells. The second incubation adds an additional anti- verotoxin antibody cocktail that “sandwiches” the antigen. The next incubation attaches horseradish peroxidase to the sandwich. After washings to remove unbound enzyme, a chromogen is added which develops a blue color in the presence of the enzyme complex and peroxide. The stop solution ends the reaction and turns the blue color to yellow.

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