ABSTRACT
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin which contaminates shellfish and causes an intoxication syndrome known as amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) in humans. Domoic acid can be detected in seafoods by both animal bioassay and chemical methods, An immunological method, employing a competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was developed to offer a simple, sensitive and economical alternative to existing methods for domoic acid screening, Moreover, the ELISA was tested on human biological fluids to determine its efficacy in quantitating domoic acid in human plasma, urine and milk. Domoic acid ELISA results were found to agree well (p<0.0 1) with the HPLC analysis method for domoic acid in shellfish samples. Lower limits of domoic acid determinations were 0.2 mg/ml for urine, 0.25 mg/ml for plasma and 10 mg/ml for milk. It was concluded that the domoic acid competitive ELISA could effectively be used to directly determine domoic acid residues in both shellfish material and human biological fluids.
