Summary
A pharmacokinetic study of oxytetracycline (OTC) following a single (100 mg kg−1) or a multi‐dose (100 mg kg−1 for 5 days) oral administration was carried out in yellow catfish, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco. After oral administration at 25°C, a one‐compartment model was developed. The absorption half‐life (t1/2(ka)) was 3.92, 1.44, 2.75, and 3.34 h in plasma, muscle, liver, and kidney after the single dose, and 0.35, 0.22, 0.42, 0.32 h after the multi‐dose, respectively. The order of peak concentration (Cmax) was liver > kidney > plasma > muscle, at 3.48 μg g−1, 2.90 μg g−1, 1.46 μg ml−1, and 1.39 μg g−1 after the single dose, and 14.02 μg g−1, 8.51 μg g−1, 4.17 μg ml−1, and 3.84 μg g−1 after the multi‐dose, respectively. The elimination half‐lives (t1/2(ke)) of OTC in plasma, muscle, liver, and kidney were calculated to be 7.64, 26.29, 19.08, and 10.61 h after the single dose, and 47.54, 70.99, 49.87, and 47.73 h after the multi‐dose, respectively. The results suggest that OTC was absorbed faster after the multi‐dose than after the single dose, suggesting that OTC could be more efficacious after the multi‐dose and more effective in the control bacterial diseases in aquaculture, with the side effects of longer withdrawal periods.