Rational Pharmacotherapy in Infectious Diseases: Issues Related to Drug Residues in Edible Animal Tissues.

Drugs are used in veterinary medicine to prevent or treat animal diseases. When rationally administered to livestock following Good Veterinary Practices (GVP), they greatly contribute to improving the production of food of animal origin. Since humans can be exposed chronically to veterinary drugs through the diet, residues in food are evaluated for effects following chronic exposures. Parameters such as an acceptable daily intake (ADI), the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL), maximum residue limits (MRLs), and the withdrawal periods (WPs) are determined for each drug used in livestock. Drug residues in food exceeding the MRLs usually appear when failing the GVP application. Different factors related either to the treated animal or to the type of drug administration, and even the type of cooking can affect the level of residues in edible tissues. Residues above the MRLs can have a diverse negative impact, mainly on the consumer's health, and favor antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Drug residue monitoring programmes are crucial to ensure that prohibited or authorized substances do not exceed MRLs. This comprehensive review article addresses different aspects of drug residues in edible tissues produced as food for human consumption and provides relevant information contributing to rational pharmacotherapy in food-producing animals.

High-throughput analysis of pesticides in minor tropical fruits from Colombia.

In this work, a method has been applied and validated for the determination of a group of 35 multiclass pesticides in the minor tropical fruits rose apple/pomarrosa (Syzygium malaccense), starfruit/carambola (Averrhoa carambola), yoyomo (Spondias purpurea) and papayuela (Vasconcellea pubescens) cultivated and exported in Colombia. The AOAC 2007.1 QuEChERS method, that uses an acetic acid/acetate buffer, was applied together with gas chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method was validated in terms of calibration, recovery at three levels of concentration and matrix effects (MEs). A mixture of analyte protectants was also used. A good linearity was obtained in all cases, while the study of the ME revealed the need of developing matrix-matched calibration for many pesticides. Recovery values were in the range 70-120% with relative standard deviation values less than 20% for most of the pesticides studied. The lowest calibration level was 5 µg/kg. Several samples of each type were analysed.