Measurement of aflatoxin in Nigerian sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Abstract

Sera from 78 healthy men donating blood in Enugu, Nigeria were examined for aflatoxin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Levels varied from less than 20 pg/ml to 3.1 ng/ml. The ELISA method is simple, sensitive and specific, and therefore well suited to the low-resource tropical environment. Aflatoxin is ingested in considerable amounts in Nigeria and many contribute, with hepatitis B, to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.