Factors associated with the risk of antibiotic residues and intramammary pathogen presence in milk from heifers administered prepartum intramammary antibiotic therapy.

Heifers (n=136) from 5 herds were treated with a commercially available beta-lactam intramammary (IMM) antibiotic preparation containing cephapirin sodium at 10-21 d prior to anticipated parturition to evaluate the risk of antibiotic residues occurring in milk postpartum and to determine factors associated with antibiotic residues and IMM pathogen presence in milk postpartum. Mammary secretions collected from quarters before antibiotic administration and during weeks 1, 2 and 3 postpartum were analyzed for mastitis pathogens. Composite milk was collected at milkings 3, 6 and 10 postpartum and analyzed for beta-lactam residues using a microbial inhibition antibiotic residue screening test. Antibiotic residues were confirmed with beta-lactamase treatment and re-tested for residues. Residues were detected in 28.0, 8.82 and 3.68% of milk samples obtained at the third, sixth, and tenth milking postpartum, respectively. Increases in interval between prepartum antibiotic therapy and parturition and an increase in the postpartum interval to sampling were associated with a decrease in risk of antibiotic residues. The presence of antibiotic residues in milk at the third milking was associated with a reduced risk for IMM pathogen prevalence in the first 21 d postpartum. Lower somatic cell counts, an increase in mean milk yield over 200 days in milk and a reduction in IMM pathogen prevalence were associated with the presence of an antibiotic in milk postpartum. Screening milk for antibiotic residues in milk postpartum following prepartum antibiotic therapy in heifers is recommended to reduce the risk for antibiotic residue contamination of milk.

Base-catalyzed hydrolysis and speciation-dependent photolysis of two cephalosporin antibiotics, ceftiofur and cefapirin.

Lately, special attention has been given to veterinary cephalosporin antibiotics due to their broad activity spectrum and significant consumption. Indeed, the determination of hydrolytic and photolytic kinetics provides a better comprehension of the undesired persistence of cephalosporins in aqueous matrices. In this work, the two widely used veterinary antibiotics ceftiofur (CEF) and cefapirin (CEPA) showed high instability under alkaline conditions, degrading in few minutes at pH > 11. In buffered solutions at neutral pH and natural temperature (T = 22 ±â€¯1 °C), both drugs presented moderate stability (t½â€¯= 3 d, CEPA and 1.4 d, CEF). Our study also demonstrated that CEPA and CEF speciation did not significantly influence the direct photolysis rates. Using a simulated water disinfection set-up (λ = 254 nm), all ionic species of CEF and CEPA presented fast and similar pseudo-first order degradation rates, kapp 0.0095 ±â€¯0.0004 and 0.0092 ±â€¯0.001 cm2 mJ-1, respectively. Furthermore, using surface water in hydrolysis experiments, CEF demonstrated significant matrix-dependent stability with a half-life (t½â€¯= 14.7 d) tenfold higher than in buffered solutions. In contrast, CEPA presented a very similar hydrolysis rate in river water (t½â€¯= 4.2 d) and a subtle faster photo-degradation rate in this same matrix (kapp 0.0128 ±â€¯0.001 cm2 mJ-1), highlighting the importance of disinfection radiation for cephalosporin depletion in aqueous environments.

Development and validation of an ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for determination of 10 cephalosporins and desacetylcefapirin in milk.

A simple, sensitive and reliable analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 10 cephalosporins and desacetylcefapirin in bovine milk by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-positive electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Samples were directly purified through HLB cartridge after dilution with 50mM phosphate buffer solution (pH 8.5). Then the eluate was dried under nitrogen and the residue was redissolved in mobile phase. Samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS on an Acquity UPLC BEH Shield RP18 column with gradient elution. The samples were quantified using ceftiofur-D3 as internal standard. The proposed method was validated according to the European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The CCα values were 111, 0.04, 140, 55, 55, 67, 23, 23, 68, 0.10 and 113µg/kg for cefalexin, cefradine, cefacetrile, cefazolin, cefoperazone, cefapirin, cefalonium, cefquinome, desacetylcefapirin, cefotaxime and ceftiofur, respectively. The mean recoveries, repeatability (expressed as coefficient of variation, CVr), and reproducibility (CVR) varied from 94.6% to 117.1%, from 5.6% to 13.6% (CVr), and from 5.9% to 27.9% (CVR), respectively. The method is demonstrated to be suitable for the determination of 10 cephalosporins and desacetylcefapirin in bovine milk. The total time required for the analysis of one sample, including sample preparation, was about 40min.

Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of goserelin in rabbit plasma.

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed and validated for the determination of goserelin in rabbit plasma. Various parameters affecting plasma sample preparation, LC separation, and MS/MS detection were investigated, and optimized conditions were identified. Acidified plasma samples were applied to Oasis((R)) HLB solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. Extracted samples were evaporated under a stream of nitrogen and then reconstituted with 100microL mobile phase A. The separation was achieved on a Capcell-Pak C18 (2.0mmx150mm, 5microm, AQ type) column with a gradient elution of solvent A (0.05% acetic acid in deionized water/acetonitrile=85/15; v/v) and solvent B (acetonitrile) at a flow rate of 250microL/min. The LC-MS/MS system was equipped with an electrospray ion source operating in positive ion mode. Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) of the precursor-product ion transitions consisted of m/z 635.7-->m/z 607.5 for goserelin and m/z 424.0-->m/z 292.1 for cephapirin (internal standard). The proposed method was validated by assessing specificity, linearity, limit of quantification (LOQ), intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy, recovery, and stability. Linear calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range of 0.1-20ng/mL (the correlation coefficients were above 0.99). The LOQ of the method was 0.1ng/mL. Results obtained from the validation study of goserelin showed good accuracy and precision at concentrations of 0.1, 1, 5, 10, and 20ng/mL. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of goserelin after a single subcutaneous injection of 3.6mg of goserelin in healthy white rabbits.

Newly identified degradation products of ceftiofur and cephapirin impact the analytical approach for quantitative analysis of kidney.

This paper describes our research on the degradation of ceftiofur and cephapirin at physiological temperatures in kidney extract and in alkaline and acidic solution, conditions that regularly occur during sample preparation. Degradation products were identified using LC-ToF/MS, NMR and microbiological techniques. Additionally kinetics of the degradation processes were studied. A slight instability of cephapirin and desfuroylceftiofur was observed at elevated temperatures. Ceftiofur and cephapirin degraded immediately and completely in an alkaline environment, resulting in inactive degradation products. Ceftiofur and cephapirin also degraded immediately and completely in kidney extract resulting in both formerly reported metabolites as well as not previously reported products. Our research shows that conditions often occurring during the analysis of ceftiofur or cephapirin result in rapid degradation of both compounds. From this it is concluded that underestimation of the determined amounts of ceftiofur and cephapirin is likely to occur. Therefore, a new approach is needed for the analysis of both compounds newly identified degradation products.