Serum pharmacokinetics and tissue and milk residues of oxytetracycline in goats following a single intramuscular injection of a long-acting preparation and milk residues following a single subcutaneous injection.

Separate groups of goats were used to determine drug depletion patterns in serum (n=10), tissue (n=20) and milk (n=8) following a single intramuscular (i.m.) dose of 20 mg/kg of a long-acting oxytetracycline (OTC) formulation (Liquamycin LA-200). Milk residues were also determined following a subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of the same product at the same dose. Serum samples were taken for 24 h post-treatment and tissues (fat, liver, kidney, muscle and injection site) collected at 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days following injection. Milk from lactating goats was collected every 12 h for 8 days following both the i.m. and s.c. treatments utilizing an intervening 5-week washout period. Residues in serum and tissue were measured using a microbial inhibition assay, while milk residues were measured using both a microbial inhibition assay and a validated HPLC method. The serum pharmacokinetic parameters of OTC in goats were determined, with a mean AUC=67.4 microg h/mL, mean terminal half-life=14.4 h, and apparent clearance=0.33 L/kg h. Tissue half-lives could not be determined with confidence because the collection times provided only two points at which residues could be measured for most tissues. Oxytetracycline residues in all goat tissue samples measured less then cattle tissue tolerance by 96 h postdosing. One-compartment model describing milk depletion data for i.m. and s.c. dosing had terminal slope half-lives of 20.1 and 36.1 h, respectively. By 96 h post-treatment none of the milk samples contained OTC residues in excess of the cattle milk tolerance (0.3 p.p.m.). For both milk and tissue, the upper-bound 99% confidence intervals for the samples taken from goats 96 h postdosing were lower than approved cow milk and tissue tolerances.