Oral chloramphenicol in dwarf goats--influence of vasopressin on its absorption and effect of diet on its biodegradation in ruminal fluid samples.

The biodegradation of chloramphenicol was studied by incubating the drug (at concentrations of 72, 48 and 24 micrograms/ml) with ruminal fluid samples from dwarf goats fed two different diets. Biodegradation of the drug was much faster in samples from animals which were fed with hay and concentrate than in those obtained from goats which were fed grass pellets only. Recently, it has been suggested that lysine-vasopressin injected intravenously induces closure of the oesophageal groove in cattle and goats. Therefore, the influence of lysine-vasopressin on the oral absorption of chloramphenicol (50 mg/kg body wt) was studied in dwarf goats, using two formulations of chloramphenicol. The results suggest that vasopressin failed to induce this reflex mechanism. Furthermore, the shapes of the plasma concentration-time curves after oral administration of chloramphenicol palmitate and chloramphenicol dissolved in propylene glycol were markedly different. Possible mechanisms for the observed differences are discussed.