Establishing a Rapid Monitoring Method for Mycotoxin Contamination in Cattle Herds—Urinary Measurement with Commercially Available Lateral Flow Immunochromatographic Strip Test

Zearalenone (ZEN), an estrogenic mycotoxin affecting cow reproduction, and deoxynivalenol (DON) are cytotoxic and immunotoxic, reducing protein synthesis. Contamination with ZEN and DON decreases the productivity of breeding cows. We evaluated the feasibility of commercial lateral flow immunochromatographic strip tests (LFISTs) as a rapid first-line screening approach for urinary ZEN and DON exposure in cattle. Using 81 samples from 13 Japanese Black (JB) and 14 Holstein Friesian (HF) herds, line intensity ratios were quantified by analyzing photographs of test and control lines within regions of interest (ROIs). LFIST correlated significantly with ELISA (ZEN/Cre: p < 0.001 and τ = 0.35; DON/Cre: p < 0.001 and τ = 0.31) and LC-MS/MS (ZEN/Cre: p = 0.002 and r = 0.35; α-ZOL/Cre: p = 0.013 and r = 0.27; β-ZOL/Cre: p = 0.007 and r = 0.30; ΣZEN/Cre: p = 0.005 and r = 0.31). The relationship between parameters was explored using the Weibull accelerated failure time model analysis. LFIST-ZEN and LFIST-DON were significantly associated with ELISA ZEN/Cre (p = 0.00057) and ELISA DON/Cre (p = 0.00061), respectively. To test whether LFISTs could predict mycotoxin contamination in feed, data from nine other herds (n = 38), with known feed mycotoxin levels, were analyzed. Estimation equations related feed ZEN and DON concentrations to urinary ZEN and DON levels in the herds. Our findings support the potential utility of LFIST as a rapid first-line herd-level screening tool for ZEN and DON exposure, providing screening information with LFIST results obtainable within approximately 15 min after initiation of the assay, while confirmatory laboratory analysis remains necessary when exposure is suspected.