Screening of boldenone and methylboldenone in bovine urine using disposable electrochemical immunosensors

Electrochemical based immunosensors for the detection of boldenone and methylboldenone in bovine urine were described in this paper. The immunosensors were fabricated by immobilizing boldenone–bovine serum albumin conjugate on the surface of screen-printed electrodes (SPEs), and followed by the competition between the free analyte and coating conjugate with corresponding antibodies. The use of anti-species IgG–horseradish peroxidase conjugate determined the degree of competition. The electrochemical technique chosen was chronoamperometry, performed at a potential of +100 mV whereby the product of the catalysis of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine undergoes reduction produced by the enzyme label. The limits of detection of assay were 30.9 ± 4.3 pg ml−1 for boldenone and 120.2 ± 8.2 pg ml−1 for methylboldenone, respectively. Results of repeated analysis of each androgen carried out using three different batches of electrodes indicate suitable repeatability (EC50 = 1.0 ± 0.3 ng ml−1 (n = 3, N = 3), R2 = 0.969, R.S.D. = 9.6% for boldenone and 1.5 ± 0.3 ng ml−1, 0.971, 10.5% for methylboldenone, respectively). Urine samples were determined directly after a single dilution step, omitting extraction and hydrolysis. This method offers the advantage to pick up both boldenone and its major metabolites in an efficient manner due to the high cross-reactivity pattern of α-boldenone with this antibody. The concentration of methylboldenone in urine detected by developed methods does indicate methylboldenone administration to heifers. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis was performed to quantitate the individual metabolites present in urine samples, and results were validated with both ELISA and immunosensor data.