Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida) infection causes substantial economic loss in the duck industry. Danofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone solely used in animals, shows good antibacterial activity against P. multocida. In this study, the in vitro pharmacodynamics of danofloxacin against P. multocida was studied. The serum and lung tissue pharmacokinetics of danofloxacin were studied in healthy and P. multocida infected ducks following oral administration of a single dose of 5 mg/kg body weight (b.w.). The MIC, MBC and MPC of danofloxacin against P. multocida (C ) were 0.25, 1 and 3.2 μg/ml, respectively. The Cmax was 0.34 μg/ml, attained at 2.03 hr in healthy ducks, and was 0.35 μg/ml, attained at 2.87 hr in diseased ducks. Compared to the serum pharmacokinetics of danofloxacin in healthy ducks, the absorption rate and extent were similar in healthy and diseased animals. In contrast, the elimination rate was slower, with an elimination half-life (T ) of 13.17 and 16.18 hr for healthy and infected animals, respectively; the AUCs in the two groups were 5.70 and 7.68 μg hr/ml, respectively, which means the total amount of drug in the circulation was increased in the infected ducks. The maximum concentration in lung tissues between healthy and infected animals was not significantly different (8.96 vs. 8.93 μg/g). However, the T in healthy ducks was longer than that in infected ducks (4 hr vs. 1.75 hr), which means that the distribution rate of danofloxacin was slower in healthy ducks. The concentration of danofloxacin in lung tissues was approximately 24-fold higher than that in the serum. In the serum pharmacokinetic profiles, the ƒAUC /MIC was 18.19 in healthy ducks and was 25.04 in P. multocida infected ducks at the clinical recommended dose, which is far from the PK/PD target (125 hr) of fluoroquinolones. Danofloxacin, at a dose of 5 mg/kg b.w., seems to be insufficient for ducks infected with P. multocida, with an MIC equal to 0.25 μg/ml.

BackgroundSystemic Escherichia coli infections cause early mortality of commercial broiler chickens. Although enrofloxacin has long been used in poultry, the in vivo pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationship of enrofloxacin against E. coli is unclear. The present study aimed to establish an in vivo PK/PD model of enrofloxacin against E. coli in seven-day-old chicks and to ascertain whether the selection of target organ for PD determination is critical for parameter magnitude calculation in enrofloxacin PK/PD modeling.ResultsThe in vivo effectiveness of enrofloxacin against E. coli in different organs varied, with the Emax ranging from − 4.4 to − 5.8 Log10 colony forming units (cfu)/mL or cfu/g. Both the surrogate AUC0–24/MIC of enrofloxacin or AUC0–24/MIC of the combination of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin correlated well with effectiveness in each organ. The AUC0–24/MIC ratio of the combination of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin producing bactericidal and elimination effects were 21.29 and 32.13 in blood; 41.68, and 58.52 in the liver; and 27.65 and 46.22 in the lung, respectively.ConclusionsThe in vivo effectiveness of enrofloxacin against E. coli in different organs was not identical after administration of the same dosage. To describe the magnitude of PK/PD parameter exactly, bacterial loading reduction in different organs as PD endpoints should be evaluated and compared in PK/PD modeling. The selection of a target organ to evaluate PDs is critical for rational dosage recommendation.

Salmonella typhimurium is a highly transmissible pathogen in rabbits that causes significant losses. Danofloxacin shows excellent efficacy against S. typhimurium infections. However, there are few reports of the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling of danofloxacin against this pathogen. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo PK/PD relationship of danofloxacin in rabbits infected with S. typhimurium. We used the reduction of bacterial burden in the blood, liver, spleen, and lung as the target PD endpoints, and determined the PK/PD indexes that best correlated with the efficacy and its corresponding magnitude. Danofloxacin was administrated orally to experimentally S. typhimurium-infected rabbits once daily for three successive days. The concentrations of danofloxacin in the serum and the bacterial burden in the blood, liver, spleen, and lung were determined. The PK/PD relationships of danofloxacin against S. typhimurium were evaluated using a Sigmoid Emax model. The results showed that the area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 24 h/minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC24 h/MIC) ratio correlated well with the in vivo antibacterial effectiveness in different organs, with an r2 of 0.8971, 0.9186, 0.9581, and 0.8708 in the blood, liver, spleen, and lung, respectively. The AUC24 h/MIC ratios for the bactericidal effect (3 × Log10 colony forming units/mL reductions) were 121.30, 354.28, 216.64, and 228.66 in the blood, liver, spleen, and lung, respectively, indicating that the in vivo effectiveness of danofloxacin against S. typhimurium using bacterial reduction in different organs as PD endpoints was not identical. This study illustrated that the selection of the target organ for bacterial reduction determination had little effect on best PK/PD parameter determination, but is critical for parameter magnitude calculation in antimicrobial PK/PD modeling, and furthermore, has an impact on the rational dosage optimization process.

Pasteurella multocida is the causative agent of fowl cholera, and florfenicol (FF) has potent antibacterial activity against P. multocida and is widely used in the poultry industry. In this study, we established a P. multocida infection model in ducks and studied the pharmacokinetics of FF in serum and lung tissues after oral administration of 30 mg/kg bodyweight. The maximum concentrations reached (Cmax) were lower in infected ducks (13.88 ± 2.70 μg/ml) vs. healthy control animals (17.86 ± 1.57 μg/ml). In contrast, the mean residence time (MRT: 2.35 ± 0.13 vs. 2.27 ± 0.18 hr) and elimination half‐life (T½β: 1.63 ± 0.08 vs. 1.57 ± 0.12 hr) were similar for healthy and diseased animals, respectively. As a result, the area under the concentration curve for 0–12 hr (AUC0–12 hr) for FF in healthy ducks was significantly greater than that in infected ducks (49.47 ± 5.31 vs. 34.52 ± 8.29 μg hr/ml). The pharmacokinetic differences of FF in lung tissues between the two groups correlated with the serum pharmacokinetic differences. The Cmax and AUC0–12 hr values of lung tissue in healthy ducks were higher than those in diseased ducks. The concentration of FF in lung tissues was approximately 1.2‐fold higher than that in serum both in infected and healthy ducks indicating that FF is effective in treating respiratory tract infections in ducks.

Pasteurella multocida can invade and translocate through endothelial cells and result in vascular-system infection, which can cause severe economic losses in the poultry industry. Antibacterial therapy (especially florfenicol) plays an important part in controlling P. multocida infection. To preserve the effect of florfenicol, in vivo pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling of florfenicol against three P. multocida strains in duck was established. Then, the efficacy of the currently marketed dose, a rational dosage regimen for populations, and the PK/PD cutoff were predicted through Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs). The area under the concentration–time curve from 0 to 24 h/minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC0–24 h/MIC) was the optimal PK/PD parameter. The PK/PD surrogate values of florfenicol against P. multocida were similar using different organs as the PD target, but varied in different strains. For the florfenicol-sensitive strain 0825Y1, when the AUC0–24 h/MIC reached 117.54 and 108.19, florfenicol showed a bactericidal effect in the liver and lung, respectively. For the florfenicol-sensitive strain 0901J1, the corresponding value was 78.39 and 54.30, respectively. For the florfenicol-resistant strain JY160110, florfenicol could attain a maximum effect of 1 – log10 reduction in bacteria in the liver and lung when the AUC0–24 h/MIC reached 2.03 and 2.06, respectively. The PK/PD-based prediction for the population dose indicated a poor effect for the low end of the currently marketed dose (40 mg/kg body weight per day), but a robust effect for the high end of the currently marketed dose (60 mg/kg body weight per day) with a target attainment rate of 92.79% and 81.44% against P. multocida in mainland China and worldwide, respectively. The recommended dose optimized by MCSs was 52 mg/kg body weight in mainland China. The PK/PD cutoff of florfenicol against P. multocida at the low end and high end of the current daily dose (40 and 60 mg/kg body weight) and predicted daily dose in mainland China (52 mg/kg body weight) was 0.25, 4, and 0.5 μg/ml, respectively. These results suggested that more than one strain should be involved for PK/PD modeling and contributed to rational use of florfenicol in populations. We also provided fundamental data for determination of florfenicol breakpoints in poultry.