Pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of florfenicol and florfenicol amine in snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii) following oral administration.

The present study reports the comparative pharmacokinetic profiles of florfenicol and its metabolite (florfenicol amine, FFA) in Trachinotus blochii under tropical marine conditions (salinity: 35 ± 1.4‰; temperature: 28.8 ± 0.54 °C) following a single in-feed oral administration of the recommended dose (15 mg/Kg). Furthermore, the study investigated the distribution of these two compounds in nine different tissues. The maximum florfenicol concentrations (C) in plasma and tissues were observed within five hours (T), except for bile. The C ranged from 572 to 1954 ng/g or ml and was in the intestine > bile > muscle + skin > liver > gill = heart > plasma > kidney = spleen. The elimination half-life of FFC was significantly slower in the bile (38.25 ± 4.46 h). The AUC tissue/plasma was highest for bile (3.77 ± 0.22), followed by intestine > muscle + skin > heart > liver > kidney = gill = spleen. T and t were slower, and C was lower for FFA than florfenicol in all tissues except C of the kidney and bile. FFA t was exceptionally slower in the kidney (46.01 ± 8.2 h). Interestingly, reaching an apparent distribution rate of > 0.5 was comparatively faster in the kidney, liver, and gills than in other tissues. The highest apparent metabolic rate was in the kidney (0.95 ± 0.01) and the lowest in plasma (0.41 ± 0.01). The generated data can be applied for formulating efficient therapeutic protocols in T. blochii, a promising mariculture species.