Antibiotics

Importance of Monitoring Bacitracin Residues
Bacitracin belongs to the group of polypeptide antibiotics. It was named after the Bacillus strain producing it and the 7-year-old girl ‘Tracy’ from whose open tibial fracture the strain was first isolated in 1945.

Nature and Use of Bacitracin
Bacitracin is a mixture of different polypeptides, with bacitracin A being the major component with the highest biological activity. It has a broad-spectrum bactericidal effect against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria by inhibiting cell wall synthesis. Bacitracin is used in veterinary medicine and can also be used as an antimicrobial growth promoter in animal husbandry. However, residues can remain in animal-derived food products, posing health risks to consumers. Improper use of antibiotics also promotes the formation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a growing health concern.

Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection
Due to these risks, bacitracin has been removed from the list of approved animal feed additives (Directive 70/524/EEG Appendix B) by Regulation 2821/98/EC, and maximum residue limits in foodstuffs have been established (Regulation 37/2010/EC).

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including bacitracin, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Importance of Monitoring Quinolone Residues
Quinolones (or chinolones) are a family of synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotic drugs known as gyrase inhibitors due to their inhibition of the gyrase enzyme.

Nature and Use of Quinolones
Quinolones are divided into four subgroups, with the majority belonging to the fluoroquinolone subgroup. Fluoroquinolones have a fluoro-group attached at the central ring system, typically at the 6th position, and are classified as second-generation quinolones. These antibiotics are used in veterinary medicine for food-producing animals, including cattle, pigs, and chickens, due to their broad-spectrum efficacy against various bacterial species.

Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection
The widespread use of fluoroquinolones in food-producing animals, particularly in chicken, swine, and fish/shrimp farming, has led to increased microbial resistance. Consequently, this resulted in amendments to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90 and the introduction of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for some fluoroquinolones to ensure food safety and public health.

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including quinolones, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Importance of Monitoring Chloramphenicol Residues
Chloramphenicol is a broad-spectrum antibiotic widely used in animal production due to its excellent antibacterial and pharmacokinetic properties. However, its use poses significant health risks to humans, leading to its prohibition in food-producing animals.

Nature and Use of Chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol (2,2-dichloro-N-[(1R,2R)-1,3-dihydroxy-1-(4-nitrophenyl)propan-2-yl]acetamide), produced by Streptomyces venezuelae, was first discovered in 1947 and has been used in veterinary medicine since the 1950s. Despite its effectiveness and low cost, the use of chloramphenicol (CAP) in food-producing animals is illegal in the EU and many other countries due to its severe side effects in humans.

Health Risks and Regulatory Compliance
Chloramphenicol residues in humans can cause myelosuppression, damaging the bone marrow, and potentially lethal chloramphenicol-induced aplastic anemia. Due to these risks, no safe residue level has been established for chloramphenicol, leading to a complete ban on its use in food-producing animals and a zero-tolerance policy for its residues. The EU has established a Minimum Required Performance Limit (MRPL) of 0.3 ppb for all test systems.

Chemical Structure and Detection
Chloramphenicol has eight different stereoisomers, but only one (RR-p-CAP) is biologically active. The RIDASCREEN® Chloramphenicol quantitative ELISA test kit is specific to this active stereoisomer. This test kit is validated for a wide variety of matrices, including milk, milk powder and milk products, honey, meat, fish, shrimp, eggs, feed, plasma, and serum. Additionally, the new version R1511 can detect the metabolite chloramphenicol glucuronide, allowing for direct screening of urine.

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a comprehensive portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including chloramphenicol, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Nitrofurans are synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotics frequently used in animal production due to their excellent antibacterial and pharmacokinetic properties. They have also been used as growth promoters in shrimp, poultry, and pig production.

Health Risks and Regulatory Compliance
Long-term animal experiments have shown that nitrofuran parent compounds and their metabolites have carcinogenic and mutagenic characteristics. This led to the prohibition of nitrofurans for treating animals used in food production. In 1993, the EU banned the nitrofurans furaltadone, nitrofurantoin, and nitrofurazone, followed by furazolidone in 1995. The analysis of nitrofurans is based on detecting tissue-bound metabolites, as the parent compounds are rapidly metabolized and difficult to detect accurately. These metabolites remain in the tissue for a long time after administration and are used to detect nitrofuran abuse.

Types of Nitrofurans and Their Metabolites
Nitrofurantoin: 1-Aminohydantoin (AHD)
Furaltadone: 3-Amino-5-morpholinomethyl-2-oxazolidinone (AMOZ)
Furazolidone: 3-Amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ)
Nitrofurazone: Semicarbazide (SEM)

Prior to analysis, the metabolites must be derivatised by incubation with 2-Nitrobenzaldehyde into NP-AHD, NP-AMOZ, NP-AOZ, and NP-SEM.

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including nitrofurans, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Importance of Monitoring β-lactam Antibiotic Residues
β-Lactam antibiotics are named after their characteristic five-membered β-lactam ring and form a large group of antibiotics. They are classified by their chemical structure into several subgroups, with the most important being penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems.

Nature and Use of β-lactam Antibiotics
Penicillins, discovered accidentally in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, inhibit the cell wall synthesis of gram-positive bacteria. Despite their early discovery, penicillins remain the most widely used group of antibiotics globally. They are particularly essential for treating mastitis, a bacterial infection of the dairy cow udder.

Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection
For reasons of consumer protection and process safety in the dairy industry, Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010 established Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for seven penicillins in food of animal origin. These MRLs help ensure that antibiotic residues in food products remain at safe levels for consumers.

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including β-lactam antibiotics, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Importance of Monitoring Streptomycin Residues
Next to β-lactam antibiotics, streptomycin is one of the most commonly used antibiotics in veterinary medicine for the treatment of mastitis. Residues of streptomycin may occur in food of animal origin if the withholding period is not obeyed or if it is used improperly.

Health Risks and Regulatory Compliance
In high concentrations, streptomycin can cause ototoxic and nephrotoxic effects. Chronic exposure to low concentrations, as found in food, may lead to allergies, impair the intestinal flora, and induce resistance in pathogenic microorganisms. To protect consumers from these health risks and avoid food-technological problems, a sensitive and simple method for detecting streptomycin is necessary. The EU regulations for streptomycin specify Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for various food products:

Muscle and liver: 500 ppb
Kidney: 1000 ppb
Honey: 10 ppb
Milk: 200 ppb

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including streptomycin, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Importance of Monitoring Sulfonamide Residues
Sulfonamides are widely used as feed additives, primarily for fattening calves and pigs. When combined with inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase, such as trimethoprim, tetroxoprim, or pyrimethamine, sulfonamides are also used in veterinary medicine to treat intestinal infections, mastitis, pulmonitis, and other systemic diseases. As a result, sulfonamide residues may occur in food of animal origin, such as meat and milk.

Health Risks and Regulatory Compliance
Sulfonamide residues, particularly the transmission of carcinogenic sulfamethazine, pose a significant threat to human health. To mitigate these risks, the EU has established a maximum residue limit (MRL) for all substances in the sulfonamide group:

Muscle, fat, liver, and kidney: 100 µg/kg (ppb)
Milk: 100 µg/l (ppb)

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including sulfonamides, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.

Importance of Monitoring Tetracycline Residues
In 1948, aureomycin (chlortetracycline) was isolated by Duggan as a metabolite of the actinomyces species Streptomyces aureofaciens. This was the first antibiotic substance in the group of tetracyclines.

Nature and Use of Tetracyclines
Worldwide, tetracycline, chlortetracycline, and oxytetracycline are authorized for veterinary use. As a result, there are potential health risks for consumers due to the presence of these antibiotics in food products. Tetracycline residues, including the sum of the mother substance and the 4-epimer, are regulated in the EU under Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010.

Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection
The EU has established Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for tetracyclines in various food products:

Muscle: 100 ppb
Milk: 100 ppb

Detection Methods
The RIDASCREEN® Tetracyclin test can be used to detect tetracycline in a variety of food matrices, including:

Milk and dairy products (cheese, butter, curd, yoghurt, kefir, cream, sour cream
Meat and meat products
Seafood
Eggs
Honey

Integrated Monitoring Approach
R-Biopharm offers a broad portfolio of test systems for the analysis of antibiotic residues, including tetracyclines, to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance. These systems include RIDASCREEN® ELISA tests for specific quantitative analysis and Premi®Test for qualitative screening.