Chromatographic methods for determination of macrolide antibiotic residues in tissues and milk of food-producing animals.

Tylosin, an antibiotic developed specifically for agricultural use, and erythromycin are the main macrolide antibiotics used in animal production. Two-dimensional thin layer chromatography has been used for detection of tylosin in poultry meat, eggs, and milk and for erythromycin in poultry meat. Detection limits reported are, for tylosin, 0.1 ppm in poultry meat, 0.05 ppm in egg, and 0.01 ppm in milk, and for erythromycin, 0.25 ppm in poultry meat. Liquid chromatography (LC) has also been used for determination of tylosin in milk, blood, and tissues of animals. Samples (milk, blood serum, or tissue homogenates in water or pH 2.2 buffer) were deproteinized with acetonitrile, tylosin was partitioned into methylene chloride, and the extracts were concentrated and dissolved in acetonitrile. Chromatography was done on a reverse phase end-capped C18 column using 0.002-0.005 M ammonium dihydrogen phosphate-acetonitrile-methanol (10 + 60 + 30-5 + 80 + 15). Solvent composition was varied with the type of sample analyzed. The method will detect 0.1 ppm tylosin in tissues and less in milk and blood serum. The LC method was more sensitive than microbiological assays for detection of tylosin in tissues of treated swine; recoveries of tylosin by the LC method were frequently several-fold higher.