Effect of route of administration on the efficacy and pharmacokinetics of an experimental formulation of the amino-acetonitrile derivative monepantel in sheep.

The effect of the route of administration (oral, intraruminal and intra-abomasal) on the efficacy and pharmacokinetics of the new anthelmintic monepantel in sheep was investigated. The target nematodes were fourth-stage Haemonchus contortus, Teladorsagia circumcincta, Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Cooperia curticei. A clear difference in efficacy was identified between the routes of administration, although the difference did not consistently reach statistical significance; oral treatment was most effective, followed by intraruminal and then intra-abomasal administration. The same pattern was observed in the pharmacokinetic analysis, with lambs treated orally having more favourable exposure to monepantel and its sulfone metabolite (albeit in all but one instance not significantly different) than the lambs treated by the other routes of administration, which were very similar for most parameters.