Development of in vitro assays for the detection of botulinum toxins in foods

Currently the only accepted method for the detection of botulinum neurotoxi n in contaminated samples is the mouse bioassay. Although highly sensitive this test has a number of drawbacks: it is expensive to perform, lacks spec ificity and involves the use of animals. With increasing resistance to such animal tests there is a need to replace the bioassay with a reliable in vi tro test. Over the past six years it has been demonstrated that all the bot ulinum neurotoxins act intracellularly as highly specific zinc endoprotease s, cleaving proteins involved in the control of secretion of neurotransmitt ers. In the work described, this enzymatic activity has been utilised in as say formats for the detection in foods of neurotoxin of the serotypes invol ved in food-borne outbreaks in man. These assays have been shown to have a greater sensitivity, speed and specificity than the mouse bioassay. II is, envisaged that such assays will prove realistic alternatives to animal-base d tests. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.