Premix - Immunetics Immuno Diagnostic Elisa Assay Kits
This Application claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 334,995 filed May 14, 2010, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to animal feed additives and their detection in food products. Furthermore, the invention relates to yeast cell wall components, their isolation methods and compositions and methods for the immunological detection thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the field of animal nutrition, a wide variety of additives and supplements have been used to improve the performance of livestock. In some cases, components of the yeast cell wall are used as feed additives. An example is the MYCOSORB feed additive (manufactured by ALLTECH, Inc.). MYCOSORB binds to mycotoxin contaminants in food and feed, sequestering the mycotoxins in an indigestible state. Such mycotoxin contaminants commonly occur due to fungal growth both in the field and postharvest on grains, grain by-products, and corn silage used as raw material components. While raw and finished food components sold commercially undergo the required mycotoxin monitoring, no monitoring system is 100% effective.
Worldwide, it is estimated that approximately 25% of all crops are affected by mycotoxin contamination (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (1989) "Mycotoxins: Economics and Health Risks", Task Force Report No. 116, Ames, Iowa), and incidents where contaminated materials enter the food supply chain for livestock and companion animals are therefore almost inevitable. The consequences of consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated feed by livestock include decreased appetite, reduced growth, reduced reproductive function and milk production, weakened immune system, poor digestion and, in severe cases, death. Therefore, mycotoxin sequestration has proven to be a useful strategy to reduce the dangers of natural toxins that negatively affect human and animal health.
The development of robust and specific analytical methods and kits for the qualitative and quantitative detection of food additives is complicated by the presence of many interfering compounds and the relatively low concentration of food additives used in ready-to-eat animal feed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to feed additives for animals and their detection in food products. Furthermore, the present invention relates to yeast cell wall components, their isolation methods, and compositions and methods for the immunological detection thereof. In some embodiments, a method is provided for detecting a yeast cell wall component and / or a fragment thereof in a sample (eg, food samples, food samples, or extracts thereof). Such a method finds use, for example, to determine the presence of food and feed additives composed of components of the yeast cell wall (eg, yeast glucan, yeast (1 → 4) -α- D-glucan, yeast (1 → 6) - β-D-glucan, yeast (1 → 4) -α - / (1 → 6) -β-D-glucan, MYCOSORB feed additive, BIOMOSS feed additive, additive for ACTIGEN feed and the like) in food products (eg livestock feed, pet feed or intermediate products of manufacture thereof).
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to methods of extracting yeast cell wall components (eg, yeast glucan, (1 → 4) -α-D-yeast glucan, (1 → 6) -β- Yeast D-glucan, yeast (1 → 4) -α - / (1 → 6) -β-D-glucan, MYCOSORB food additive and the like) from food products (eg, livestock feed, pet food or intermediate products of their manufacture). In some embodiments, the present invention provides antigens that find use to generate antibodies against specific components of the yeast cell wall (eg, yeast (1 → 4) -α-D-glucan, yeast (1 → 6) -β.
D-glucan, yeast (1 → 4) -α - / (1 → 6) -β-D-glucan, and / or conjugates thereof). In preferred embodiments, said antigens are conjugated to a carrier, for example a protein carrier (for example, bovine serum albumin (BSA)). In some embodiments, the present invention provides methods for the activation of carbohydrates (eg, carbohydrates comprising glucopyranose rings, glucans, yeast (1 → 4) -α - / (1 → 6) -β-D-glucan) in the C6-OH position.