β-Agonists

β-Agonists are synthetic derivatives with similar chemical structures of the naturally occurring catecholamines. They are used as medication for the treatment of respiratory diseases such as asthma. Beta-agonists facilitate the use of fats rather than glucose as a fuel source. This improves the meat: fat ratio of animals and leads to the production of higher quality meat at lower cost. When animals are treated with ß-agonists, drug residues may remain in the animal’s meat and milk, which may be harmful to the consumer. The use of Beta-agonists as growth promoters has been banned in most countries. Consequently, it is important that abuse of these compounds is monitored.

Clenbuterol belongs to the group of β-agonists and has been widely used as a growth promoter amongst livestock farming and as a uterus relaxant for cattle during the birthing season. In comparison to therapeutic use, clenbuterol is administered at 5 to 10 time’s higher dosages when employed as a growth promoter. Therefore, it is possible that clenbuterol residues may lead to a risk for consumers. China, USA & EU have all banned the use of clenbuterol. This CD clenbutero test is based on antibodies against clenbuterol and it is designed to detect the following Beta-Agonists (% of cross-reactivity): clenbuterol (100%), bromobuterol (100%), mapenterol (80%), mabuterol (70%) and cimbuterol (60%).

Ractopamine belongs to the group of β-agonists and acts as a nutrient repartitioning agent in livestock by diverting nutrients from fat deposition to the production of muscle tissues. It is possible that ractopamine residues, after use in illegal practice, may lead to a risk for consumers. Ractopamine is a growth promoter; its use is forbidden in EU countries. The US Food and Drug Administration FDA) approved ractopamine as a swine feed supplement. The CD ractopamine ELISA is a competitive enzyme immunoassay for the screening and quantitative analysis of ractopamine in urine and tissue (liver, muscle) samples.