The incorporation of antibiotics and sulfonamides in livestock and poultry feeds has risen steadily since 1950. Concern over the addition of subtherapeutic levels of antimicrobials to animal feed is growing because of its potential as a hazard to human health. Current methods of analysis of sulfonamides are labor-intensive, time-consuming and require extensive sample preparation. The goals of this research are: (1) production of monoclonal antibodies which can serve as analytical reagents to detect, with high specificity and sensitivity, sulfonamides in samples requiring little or no cleanup, and (2) successful construction of stabilized cell lines which secrete the desired monoclonal antibodies. Successful development of such assays will greatly facilitate the detection of sulfonamide residues in in meat and poultry and thus help to assure the safety of food products for the American people.
