In 2012, a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was released. Methods based on tandem mass spectrometry like liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass-spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) meet these requirements, but these types of analysis require rather specialized and expensive equipment.
The analytical methods used for unambiguous identification of BMAA in the aquatic ecosystem should be sensitive, selective and robust. ,, ) have misidentified BMAA and/or overestimated its concentrations. At present, the cause of these differences in BMAA concentrations in cyanobacteria has not been identified yet, although it is very probable that studies that have used the unselective HPLC-FLD (e.g. Initially, BMAA was detected in nearly all tested cyanobacterial species –, while some later studies found lower concentrations of BMAA, found BMAA only in some samples or did not detect BMAA at all (e.g.
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After it was reported that BMAA was present in the cyanobacteria that live in symbiosis with the cycads on Guam, free living cyanobacteria were screened for BMAA. Nevertheless, possible pathways of human exposure to BMAA are at present being investigated. Although there is proof of the neurotoxic effect of BMAA on cellular and animal level, the role of BMAA in the etiology of these neurodegenerative diseases still needs further establishment. The neurotoxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) was discovered in 1967 in cycad seeds from the island of Guam and is suspected to play a role in the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
We therefore conclude that in its current state, the kit is not suitable for screening surface waters for BMAA. Furthermore, the ELISA gave a positive signal for nearly each tested sample while no BMAA could be detected by LC-MS/MS. However, we found that recovery was higher than 100% in most spiked samples, highest determined recovery was over 400%. We hypothesised that the recovery of spiked samples was close to 100% and that the results of unspiked sample analysis were comparable between ELISA and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. The objective of this study was to determine whether the BMAA ELISA kit was suitable for the determination of BMAA concentrations in surface waters. This kit could enable fast and relatively cheap screening of surface waters for BMAA. In 2012, a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determination of BMAA in surface waters was released. However, reliable analysis of BMAA requires specialized and expensive equipment. Because BMAA seems to be produced by cyanobacteria, surface waters are screened for BMAA. The neurotoxin β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is suspected to play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.