Detection of central nervous system tissue on meat and carcass-splitting band saw blade surfaces using modified fluorescent glial fibrillary acidic protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay sampling and extraction procedures.

This study was conducted to determine optimal buffer pH, extraction procedure, and temperature for detecting central nervous system (CNS) tissue on meat surfaces and on carcass-splitting band saw blades using swab sampling. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is restricted to CNS tissue and has been used as a marker for CNS tissue presence in meat products. Sample preparation, extraction procedure, and extraction temperature of glial fibrillary acidic protein fluorescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (GFAP F-ELISA) were modified to detect CNS tissue on meat surfaces and on carcass-splitting band saw blades. Maximum GFAP recovery was observed with an extraction buffer pH of 7.4. Extracting samples at room temperature by vortexing for 30 s in 1 ml of extraction buffer (phosphate-buffered saline [pH 7.4] plus 0.05% sodium dodecyl sulfate) consistently provided detection of GFAP on meat surfaces contaminated with 500 microg of spinal cord suspension per 50 cm2 and on carcass-splitting band saw blades contaminated with 20 microg of spinal cord suspension per 50 cm2. Recovery of GFAP was not affected by storing samples overnight at 4 degrees C. The current studies demonstrate the effectiveness of modified sampling procedures and preparations, sample extraction buffer pH, and extraction temperatures. These modifications introduced to the original F-ELISA sampling protocol result in asensitive and repeatable assay for detection of CNS tissue on meat surfaces and on carcass-splitting band saw blades.

Comparison of immunochemical (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and immunohistochemical methods for the detection of central nervous system tissue in meat products.

Three methods are widely used in the United States to detect the presence of central nervous system (CNS) tissue in meat products: the fluorescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (F-ELISA), developed in this laboratory, the colorimetric Ridascreen Risk Material 10/5 ELISA (R-ELISA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service immunohistochemical (IHC) procedure. These assays are based on the immunological detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a neural antigen largely restricted to the CNS. The objective of the current study was to compare the sensitivity and repeatability of these tests for detecting the presence of neural tissue in meat. Ground beef spiked with 0.05 to 0.5% of bovine brain, spinal cord (SC), or dorsal root ganglia, as well as advanced meat recovery samples, were evaluated by each of the three GFAP detection procedures. Interassay coefficients of variation for the F-ELISA GFAP standards were 7 to 25%, and intra-assay variation due to sampling and extraction of spiked ground beef was 7 to 13% for SC and 8 to 14% for brain (n = 10). The F-ELISA was the most sensitive of the methods tested, capable of detecting 0.3 ng GFAP standard per well and the presence of 0.05% brain and SC in meat. The R-ELISA standards produced highly variable results (up to 36% variation) and, as a result, none of these standards were different from zero (n = 26). The R-ELISA resulted in high sample variation in SC-spiked ground beef samples (coefficients of variation were 23 to 50%) and did not detect the presence of brain contamination. After modification of the R-ELISA sampling and extraction methods, SC-spiked sample variation was reduced to 16 to 20%, and sensitivity was improved from 0.3 to 0.2% SC, although brain tissue was still not detected. The IHC analysis of CNS-adulterated ground beef had a sensitivity of 0.2% SC and 0.05% brain, with false-negative rates of 10 to 20% at and above the stated sensitivities. None of the methods examined detected dorsal root ganglia contamination. The F-ELISA detected the presence of CNS contamination in 20% of the advanced meat recovery samples, compared to 3.5 to 5% for the R-ELISA and 2% for IHC. This study suggests that the F-ELISA is much more sensitive and repeatable than either the R-ELISA or the IHC procedure method for the detection of CNS tissue in meat products.

Effects of bovine colostral ultrafiltrates on growth and differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

This study was designed to compare the effects of whole and size-fractionated bovine colostrum with bovine calf serum (BCS) on the growth and differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts. High (HMW) and low (LMW)-molecular-mass ultrafiltrate fractions of colostrum were prepared from defatted colostrum (COL) by diafiltration through membranes with a molecular-mass cut-off of 30 kDa. Incorporation of [(3)H]thymidine into the cells was used as a reflection of DNA synthesis/cell proliferation. The growth-promoting activity of LMW was 2.3- and 2.5-fold higher than COL and HMW, respectively (P <0.05), and 185 microg/ml LMW stimulated cell proliferation equivalent to 10% BCS. Although insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, IGF-II and platelet-derived growth factor AB stimulated 3T3-L1 cells, antibodies to these factors did not inhibit the LMW effects. The LMW fraction was about twice as effective as COL and HMW in stimulating differentiation of the cells into adipocytes, but maximal differentiation was only 60% of that seen with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Treatment with COL, HMW, IGF-I and insulin induced peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma RNA, but levels were about half of that with 10% FBS treatment and LMW induction was 80% of FBS. Low amounts of leptin mRNA were detected in adipocytes and abundance did not differ between treatments with BCS, hormones or COL fractions. This study showed that bovine colostral LMW stimulated the growth and differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and may be a useful serum substitute to support the growth of these cells.