Pharmacokinetics of a single dose of enrofloxacin administered orally to captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

OBJECTIVE

To determine the pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin after oral administration to captive elephants.

ANIMALS

6 clinically normal adult Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

PROCEDURE

Each elephant received a single dose of enrofloxacin (2.5 mg/kg, PO). Three elephants received their complete diet (pellets and grain) within 2 hours after enrofloxacin administration, whereas the other 3 elephants received only hay within 6 hours after enrofloxacin administration. Serum concentrations of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were measured by use of high-performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTS

Harmonic mean half-life after oral administration was 18.4 hours for all elephants. Mean +/- SD peak serum concentration of enrofloxacin was 1.31 +/- 0.40 microg/mL at 5.0 +/- 4.2 hours after administration. Mean area under the curve was 20.72 +/- 4.25 (microg x h)/mL.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Oral administration of enrofloxacin to Asian elephants has a prolonged elimination half-life, compared with the elimination half-life for adult horses. In addition, potentially therapeutic concentrations in elephants were obtained when enrofloxacin was administered orally at a dosage of 2.5 mg/kg. Analysis of these results suggests that enrofloxacin administered with feed in the manner described in this study could be a potentially useful antimicrobial for use in treatment of captive Asian elephants with infections attributable to organisms, such as Bordetella spp, Escherichia coli, Mycoplasma spp, Pasteurella spp, Haemophilus spp, Salmonella spp, and Staphylococcus spp.