Residue depletion of florfenicol and its metabolite florfenicol amine in Swine tissues after intramuscular administration.

A study of the tissue depletion of florfenicol (FF) administered intramuscularly twice to swine at a dose rate of 20 mg per kg of body weight at 24 h intervals was carried out. Forty healthy cross swine were treated with the FF injection formulation. Five treated animals were selected randomly to be sacrificed at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 14, 17, and 21 days withdrawal. FF and florfenicol amine (FFa) residue concentrations in muscle, liver, and kidney were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with photodiode array (PDA) detection at 225 nm. Liver samples showed the lowest FF and the highest FFa concentrations throughout the experiment period. However, the highest total concentrations of FF and FFa during the study were found in kidney, which indicated that kidney is the target tissue for FF. The sum of FF and FFa concentrations in all tissues analyzed was below the accepted maximum residue limits recommended by the Agriculture Ministry of People's Republic of China and the European Union at 8 days posttreatment.