Bioavailability, pharmacokinetics and tissue residues of cephradine (Atocef Forte？) in healthy and colisepticemic broiler chickens

The pharmacokinetics (after single intravenous and oral dose) and tissue residues (orally and daily for five days) of cephradine (20 mg/kg b.wt.) were investigated in healthy and experimentally E.coli infected broiler chickens. Following single intravenous injection to healthy chickens, cephradine obeyed a two compartments open model and the elimination half-life (t1/2β), volume of distribution (Vdss) and total body clearance (CLtot) of cephradine were 2.93 h, 321.5 ml/kg and 0.08 L/h/kg, respectively. Following single oral administration of cephradine to healthy chickens, the peak serum concentration (Cmax) of it was 26.7 μg/mL and achieved (Tmax) at 2.41 h. The oral bioavailability of cephradine was 87.7%. Cephradine was assayed in kidney, liver, heart, gizzard, spleen, breast muscle, thigh muscle and skin after 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h after last dose. On conclusion, cephradine is a good choice for treatment of colisepticemia in chickens due to its higher oral bioavailability and distribution.