Measurement of Blood Lead by Immunoassay

Our company will develop an immunoassay that can be used in screening programs fordetermination of blood lead levels. Monoclonal antibodies specific for delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALAD)and lead will be used to investigate the feasibility of their use for detection of lead bound to ALAD inan erythrocyte lysate. The system will be evaluated first with purified ALAD containing known amountsof lead. An ALAD-specific antibody will be adsorbed to a solid phase and used to capture thelead-containing ALAD. The lead-specific antibody will then be used in an ELISA to quantify the amountof lead bound to the ALAD and compare the results to those obtained by atomic absorption. Aftersuccessful completion of these experiments, human blood samples containing known amounts of leadwill be substituted for the ALAD in the assay. Erythrocytes will be lysed with a nonionic detergent, andthe ALAD-specific antibody will be used to capture the released ALAD. The lead-specific antibody willthen be added for detection by ELISA of lead bound to ALAD. The results will be correlated with thelead concentrations in the blood samples determined by anodic stripping voltametry or graphite-furnaceatomic absorption.