Identification and quantitative evaluation of antibiotic residues in chickens fed on a spiramycin diet

Abstract

A sensitive chromatographic method is described for the determination of antibiotic residues in tissues of chickens fed with spiramycin. Assays were performed on muscles, liver, and kidneys. At a dose level of 10 grams of spiramycin embónate per ton of food, residues (about 0.1 p.p.m.) were found only in the liver; their presence in the other organs, expressed in spiramycin activity, was therefore lower than 0.01 to 0.02 p.p.m. At a dose level of 100 grams per ton, small amounts of metabolites appeared in all the organs, and their approximate concentration was established. The antibiotic residues were identified as spiramycin, neospiramycin, and polar derivatives of neospiramycin. The metabolic pathways which may be involved in the transformation of spiramycin are discussed.

An Improved Electrophoretic Method for Identifying Antibiotics with Special Reference to Animal Tissues and Animal Feeding Stuffs

“…Other techniques, which combine paper chromatography and bio-autography (Stiffey & Williams 1955) or t.1.c. and bio-autography (Jolles & Terlain 1968;Zuidweg et al 1969;Freres & Valdebouze 1973;Barbiers & Neff 1976;Bossuyt et aE. 1976) are often more sensitive than the chemical methods outlined above, and can generally identify a greater range of antibacterial substances for a given system.…”