No abstract

This study was performed in order to determine the stability of antibiotics belonging to eight families in solution or biological matrix. Knowledge of the stability of antibiotics has to be demonstrated during method development or validation. The stability of stock standard solutions of 53 antibiotics was assessed after determining the appropriate conditions of dissolution and storage. The stability of the same 53 antibiotics after addition to negative control cow milk or pork muscle tissue stored at -18 and -70 degrees C was also assessed. Our concern was to obtain information concerning the stability of antibiotic residues in fortified biological matrixes in order to make easier the implementation of a routine screening method for antibiotic residues within the framework of the French monitoring program. Antibiotic solutions and fortified samples were analyzed using an LC/MS/MS method previously validated for screening purposes and for which it was checked that all pertinent criteria to obtain interpretable stability results were fulfilled. The design for testing the stability of antibiotics in solutions and matrix samples is described, as well as the rules of decision that were observed. Term periods for the stability study ranged from 1 month to 1 year, depending on the class of compounds. The results presented in this article will be useful and time-saving for many reference and field laboratories because LC/MS/MS methods are more and more commonly used for screening purposes.

Premi Test contains viable spores of a strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus which is sensitive to antimicrobial residues, such as beta-lactams, tetracyclines, macrolides and sulphonamides. The growth of the strain is inhibited by the presence of antimicrobial residues in muscle tissue samples. Premi Test was validated according to AFNOR rules (French Association for Normalisation). The AFNOR validation was based on the comparison of reference methods (French Official method, i.e. four plate test (FPT) and the STAR protocol (five plate test)) with the alternative method (Premi Test). A preliminary study was conducted in an expert laboratory (Community Reference Laboratory, CRL) on both spiked and incurred samples (field samples). Several method performance criteria (sensitivity, specificity, relative accuracy) were estimated and are discussed, in addition to detection capabilities. Adequate agreement was found between the alternative method and the reference methods. However, Premi Test was more sensitive to beta-lactams and sulphonamides than the FPT. Subsequently, a collaborative study with 11 laboratories was organised by the CRL. Blank and spiked meat juice samples were sent to participants. The expert laboratory (CRL) statistically analysed the results. It was concluded that Premi Test could be used for the routine determination of antimicrobial residues in muscle of different animal origin with acceptable analytical performance. The detection capabilities of Premi Test for beta-lactams (amoxicillin, ceftiofur), one macrolide (tylosin) and tetracycline were at the level of the respective maximum residue limits (MRL) in muscle samples or even lower.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of tilmicosin, tylosin, spiramycin, and its major metabolite neospiramycin was developed that is suitable for porcine, bovine, and poultry muscles. Macrolide residues were extracted from muscle with acetonitrile, fat was removed by liquid-liquid extraction with isooctane, and the extract was then cleaned on Bond Elut C18 cartridges. The HPLC separation was performed on an Inertsil ODS3 C18 column (150 × 4 mm) with 0.05% trifluoroacetic acid-acetonitrile in a gradient mode. Two different chromatographic gradients were used for tilmicosin-tylosin and spiramycin-neospiramycin, and the detection wavelengths were 287 and 232 nm, respectively. The method was validated from ½ the maximum residue limit (MRL) to 4 times the MRL with pork muscle samples. Mean recoveries were 60, 63.5, 51, and 42% for tilmicosin, tylosin, spiramycin, and neospiramycin, respectively. The detection limits are 15 μg/kg for tilmicosin and tylosin, 30 μg/kg for spiramycin, and 25 μg/kg for neospiramycin. Linearity, precision, and accuracy of the method were also tested.

A high-performance thin-layer chromatographic method based on solid-phase extraction has been developed for the qualitative determination of seven quinolones (enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, norfloxacin, flumequine, oxolinic acid and nalidixic acid) in pork muscle. After preparation of the samples by extraction and clean-up by solid-phase extraction on reversed-phase cartridges, extracts were spotted and eluted on silica gel plates. The plate is first inspected under UV illumination at 312 nm, then sprayed with terbium chloride solution and again monitored under 312 nm UV. The method has been validated to a level of 15 lag kg -1 for enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, norfloxacin and 5 lag kg -I for flumequin, oxolinic acid and nalidixic acid.

An approach is described to validate a fast and simple targeted screening method for antibiotic analysis in meat and aquaculture products by LC-MS/MS. The strategy of validation was applied for a panel of 75 antibiotics belonging to different families, i.e., penicillins, cephalosporins, sulfonamides, macrolides, quinolones and phenicols. The samples were extracted once with acetonitrile, concentrated by evaporation and injected into the LC-MS/MS system. The approach chosen for the validation was based on the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) guidelines for the validation of screening qualitative methods. The aim of the validation was to prove sufficient sensitivity of the method to detect all the targeted antibiotics at the level of interest, generally the maximum residue limit (MRL). A robustness study was also performed to test the influence of different factors. The validation showed that the method is valid to detect and identify 73 antibiotics of the 75 antibiotics studied in meat and aquaculture products at the validation levels.

Aquaculture has been the fastest growing animal production industry for the past four decades, and almost half of the fish eaten in the world are now farmed fish. To prevent diseases in this more intensive aquaculture farming, use of therapeutic chemicals has become a basic choice. The monitoring of malachite green, a triphenylmethane dye and one of the oldest and widely used chemicals in fish production, has gained more interest since the mid 1990s when this substance was finally proven to be toxic enough to be prohibited in seafood products destined for human consumption. The enforcement of the European Union (EU) regulation of this banned substance along with some other triphenylmethane dye congeners and their metabolites in its domestic production and in seafood imports was undertaken through the National Residue Monitoring Plans implemented in nearly all of the 28 EU member states. The reliability of the overall European monitoring of this dye contamination in aquaculture products was assessed by using the results of proficiency testing (PT) studies provided by the EU Reference Laboratory (EU-RL) in charge of the network of the EU National Reference Laboratories (NRLs). The proficiency of each NRL providing analytical support services for regulating dye residues was carefully checked during three PT rounds. In the process, the analytical methods developed and validated for this purpose have gradually been improved and extended over the last two decades.

An interlaboratory study was organised in 1996 in order to determine laboratory testing performance for measuring oxytetracycline (OTC) and 4-epioxytetracycline (4-epiOTC) residues in pig muscle. The organisation was designed according to the 'International Harmonised Protocol for Proficiency Testing of (Chemical) Analytical Laboratories' produced by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC International) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Fourteen National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) out of the 15 asked to participate agreed to analyse the samples. These laboratories were from 13 different European Union (EU) Member States and each participant was allowed to use the extraction method of their own choice but had to use liquid chromatography as the analytical technique. Most of the methods used were based on UV detection (simple wavelength or diode-array detection) but some involved fluorimetric detection. The production of incurred samples was prepared on-site. The OTC and 4-epiOTC concentrations present in the samples were determined by taking the mean of the results (excluding outliers) and the deviation of each result from the assigned value was measured. The performance of the laboratories was evaluated by calculating the 'z-scores'. The results were globally satisfactory and showed that all 14 laboratories were capable of determining OTC and 4-epiOTC in pig muscle with satisfactory accuracy. Only two laboratories obtained a questionable result in terms of repeatability.