Fluoroquinolones are extensively used in the treatment of systemic bacterial infections in poultry, including systemic Escherichia coli bacillosis, which is a common disease in turkey flocks. Marbofloxacin has been licensed for use in various mammalian species, but not as yet for turkeys, although its kinetic properties distinguish it from other fluoroquinolones. For example, the longer half-life of marbofloxacin in many animal species has been appreciated in veterinary practice. It is generally accepted that, for fluoroquinolones, the optimal dose should be estimated on the basis of the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) characteristics of the drug under consideration. Knowledge of these specific data for the target animal species allows the establishment of an integrated PK-PD model that is of high predictive value. In the present study, the antibacterial efficacy (PD indices) against a field isolate of Escherichia coli O78/K80 was investigated ex vivo following oral and intravenous administration of marbofloxacin to turkeys (breed BUT 9; six animals per group) at a dose of 2 mg/kg of body weight (BW). At the same time, the serum concentrations of marbofloxacin were measured at different time intervals by a standardized high-performance liquid chromatography method, allowing the calculation of the most relevant kinetic parameters (PK parameters). The in vitro serum inhibitory activity of marbofloxacin against the selected E. coli strain, O78/K80, was 0.5 g/ml in the blood serum of turkeys, and the ratio of the maximum concentration of the drug in serum to the serum inhibitory activity was 1.34. The lowest ratio of the measured serum concentration multiplied by the incubation period of 24 h to the serum inhibitory activity required for bacterial elimination was lower than the ratio of the area under the serum concentration-time curve (AUC) to the serum inhibitory activity. These first results suggested that the recommended dose of 2 mg/kg BW of marbofloxacin is sufficient to achieve a therapeutic effect in diseased animals. However, considering the risk of resistance induction, the applied dose should be equal to an AUC/MIC of >125, the generally recommended dose for all fluoroquinolones. According to the PK-PD results presented here, a dose of 3.0 to 12.0 mg/kg BW per day would be needed to meet this criterion. In conclusion, the results of the present study provide the rationale for an optimal dose regimen for marbofloxacin in turkeys and hence should form the basis for dose selection in forthcoming clinical trials.Marbofloxacin is a synthetic fluoroquinolone, developed for veterinary use only (47). It has a broad spectrum of activity (58), and bactericidal concentration-dependent killing is observed against many gram-negative bacteria (12, 49, 51, 52). The pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of marbofloxacin have been studied in several mammalian species, and some advantages over other fluoroquinolones, such as a longer elimination half-life, have been described (2,43,47,48). In practice, this would e...

Colibacillosis is a systemic disease responsible for important economic losses in poultry breeding; fluoroquinolones, including danofloxacin, are used to treat diseased animals. The purpose of the present study was to estimate pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) surrogates for bacteriostasis, bactericidal activity and bacterial elimination against Escherichia coli O78/K80, using a PK-PD approach, for danofloxacin in turkeys after oral administration. Eight healthy turkeys, breed BUT 9, were included in a two-way crossover study. The drug was administered intravenously (i.v.) and orally at a dose rate of 6 mg/kg bw. The values of the elimination half-life and the total body clearance after i.v. administration were 8.64 +/- 2.35 h and 586.76 +/- 136.67 ml kg(-1)h(-1), respectively. After oral administration, the values of the absolute bioavailability and the elimination half-life were 78.37+/- 17.35% and 9.74+/- 2.93 h, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration against the investigated strain in turkey serum was 0.25 microg/ml, four times higher than in broth. The lowest effective ex vivo AUC(24)/MIC ratios required for bacteriostasis, bactericidal activity, and total killing of E. coli O78/K80 were 0.416 h, 1.9 h and 6.73 h, respectively. The oral dose of 6 mg/kg used in the present study could be interpreted as being sufficient to eliminate E. coli with an MIC 0.25 microg/ml. However, considering the demand that antimicrobial resistance should be avoided by complete bacterial elimination, PK-PD considerations suggest that an even higher dose of 32 mg/kg per day or 0.7 mg/kcal per day should be evaluated in clinical trials.

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the variations of the plasma creatine kinase (CK) activities following an experimentally induced staphylococcal infection in rabbits and to compare them with the occurrence of clinical signs. For that, the plasma CK activities were determined in 7 male New Zealand White, 3 months old rabbits subcutaneously injected with Staphylococcus aureus strain suspension (density: 8х10 8 cfu/mL) and in 6 other rabbits not treated (controls). In parallel, rectal temperature and skin lesions (abscesses) were recorded. In all infected animals, formation of abscess due to the proliferation of the inoculated strain was observed within 48-96 hours following the bacterial inoculation and these lesions have gradually extended leading to purulent exudates several days after and sometimes to secondary abscesses in surrounding muscles. The concentration of fibrinogen was used as an acute phase protein with aim to confirm the incidence of infection. Plasma CK activities were dramatically elevated on 48 hour compared to initial values and to controls at the same time but this increase was transient, the CK activities being similar to controls since the 72 nd hour. These results indicate that the plasma CK activity in rabbit can be considered as a precocious marker of skin and secondary muscular damage related to the abscess formation and probably to the bacterial exotoxins following experimental staphylococcal infection.

The aim of the present study was to perform molecular typing of Paenibacillus larvae (P. larvae) isolates from Bulgarian apiaries with repetitive element polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) using BOX A1R, MBO REP1, and ERIC primers. A total of 96 isolates collected from brood combs with clinical symptoms of American foulbrood originating from apiaries located in different geographical regions of Bulgaria, a reference strain P. larvae NBIMCC 8478 and 30 commercial honey samples with Bulgarian origin were included in the study. Rep-PCR fingerprinting analysis revealed two genotypes ab and AB of P. larvae isolates from brood combs and honey samples. A combination of genotypes ab/AB was detected in one apiary and honey sample. The prevailing genotype ab was found in 78.1 % of brood combs isolates as well as in the reference strain whereas genotype AB was determined in 21.9 % of isolates. The examination of honey samples confirmed the preponderance of ab genotype which was demonstrated in 20 of 30 samples analyzed. In conclusion, the genetic epidemiology of P. larvae revealed two genotypes--ab and AB for Bulgarian strains. Developed protocols for molecular typing of P. larvae are reliable and may be used to trace the source of infection.