Abstract
Oxytetracycline is widely used in veterinary medicine for the treatment of animals, as well as growth promoters. They can have adverse effects on human health through animal products if the rules for the use of antibiotics are not followed. The World Health Organization has established maximum residue limits of antibiotics in milk and meat, which require accurate, rapid and inexpensive methods to determine. Immunochromatographic assay (ICA) is ideal for this purpose due to its speed of analysis, high sensitivity and ease of use. This paper describes the results of study on the obtaining an oxytetracycline (OTC) conjugate with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and/or ovalbumin (OVA). OTC has been chemically purified from the antibiotic hydrochloride salt (OTC HC), which is widely used in animal husbandry and is more affordable than its chemically pure analogue. Spectrophotometric analysis of the prepared conjugates and immunization of laboratory animals showed the suitability of OTC, chemically purified from OTC HC, for crosslinking into BSA and/or OVA molecules and obtaining hapten-specific antibodies. The results obtained could be used for the manufacture of ICA components - labeled OTC-specific antibodies and test line antigen.