TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a point‐of‐care test for the detection of MDMA in latent fingerprints using Surface Plasmon Resonance and lateral flow technology
AU - Pollard, Caroline
AU - Hudson, Mark
AU - Mcdonnell, James M.
AU - Royall, Paul G.
AU - Wolff, Kim
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was conducted as part of an iCASE studentship funded by the BBSRC and in partnership with Intelligent Fingerprinting who provided help with materials and equipment and guidance on the development of the LFA using LFP.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Drug Testing and Analysis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - To date, a specific point-of-care test (POCT) for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy, ‘E’) in latent fingerprints (LFPs) has not been explored. Other POCTs identify MDMA in sweat by detecting the drug as a cross-reactant rather than target analyte, thus decreasing the test's sensitivity. The study's aim was to design a sensitive POCT for the detection of MDMA in LFPs using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) technology. A high-affinity antibody binding pair was identified using the former technique, deeming the pair suitable for a LFA. Titrations of fluorescently labelled antibody and antigen concentrations were tested to identify a sharp drop-in signal upon the addition of MDMA to allow a clear distinction between negative and positive outcomes. We trialled the LFA by producing dose response curves with MDMA and a group of drugs that share a similar chemical structure to MDMA. These were generated through spiking the LFA with increasing levels of drug (0–400 pg/10 μl of MDMA; 0–10,000 pg/10 μl of cross-reactant). Fluorescent test signals were measured using a cartridge reader. The cut-off (threshold) 60 pg/10 μl calculated better cartridge performance (1.00 sensitivity, 0.95 specificity and 0.98 accuracy), when compared with 40 pg/10 μl. The biggest cross-reactant was PMMA (250%), followed by MDEA (183%), MBDB (167%), MDA (16%) and methamphetamine (16%). A sensitive LFP screening tool requiring no sample preparation was successfully designed.
AB - To date, a specific point-of-care test (POCT) for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy, ‘E’) in latent fingerprints (LFPs) has not been explored. Other POCTs identify MDMA in sweat by detecting the drug as a cross-reactant rather than target analyte, thus decreasing the test's sensitivity. The study's aim was to design a sensitive POCT for the detection of MDMA in LFPs using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) technology. A high-affinity antibody binding pair was identified using the former technique, deeming the pair suitable for a LFA. Titrations of fluorescently labelled antibody and antigen concentrations were tested to identify a sharp drop-in signal upon the addition of MDMA to allow a clear distinction between negative and positive outcomes. We trialled the LFA by producing dose response curves with MDMA and a group of drugs that share a similar chemical structure to MDMA. These were generated through spiking the LFA with increasing levels of drug (0–400 pg/10 μl of MDMA; 0–10,000 pg/10 μl of cross-reactant). Fluorescent test signals were measured using a cartridge reader. The cut-off (threshold) 60 pg/10 μl calculated better cartridge performance (1.00 sensitivity, 0.95 specificity and 0.98 accuracy), when compared with 40 pg/10 μl. The biggest cross-reactant was PMMA (250%), followed by MDEA (183%), MBDB (167%), MDA (16%) and methamphetamine (16%). A sensitive LFP screening tool requiring no sample preparation was successfully designed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120775861&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/dta.3196
DO - 10.1002/dta.3196
M3 - Article
SN - 1942-7603
VL - 14
SP - 613
EP - 621
JO - Drug Testing And Analysis
JF - Drug Testing And Analysis
IS - 4
ER -