The pharmacokinetic behaviour of dipyrone metabolite 4-MAA in serum was determined in seven horses of different breeds after a single intravenous dose administration. A biexponential formula was fitted to the serum concentration vs. time data. The median half-life of the elimination phase (t1/2 beta) was 4.85 h (range 5.04 h), the median volume of distribution (Vd(area)) was 1.85 L/kg (range 3.2 L/kg) and median of total clearance was 4.0 mL/min/kg (range 2.3 mL/min/kg).

Recently, a lateral flow assay (LFA) for detection of Leptospira-specific IgM in canine sera became commercially available in Europe. The present study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of this assay using canine sera from a collection of diagnostic accessions. Diagnostic sensitivity was assessed by testing 37 acute-phase and 9 corresponding convalescent-phase sera from dogs with a confirmed diagnosis of leptospirosis. Specificity was determined by testing sera from sick dogs with non-leptospiral infections (n=15) and healthy dogs with incomplete history of vaccination (n=45). During acute phase of illness, LFA scored positive for 28/37 sera with a sensitivity of 75.7 per cent while only 9/37 (24.3 per cent) samples were positive on microscopic agglutination test. The specificity of the LFA was 98.3 per cent (59/60). This test showed 89.7 and 100 per cent overall agreements with clinical diagnosis for acute-phase and convalescent-phase sera, respectively. The impact of vaccination on the LFA was also determined and vaccine-stimulated IgM responses were negative in 19/25 (76 per cent) dogs at 12 weeks post vaccination. In conclusion, the LFA is a rapid and reliable test for early detection of Leptospira-specific IgM during acute phase of canine leptospirosis. However, interpretation of a positive result must be made in the context of clinical signs and vaccination history.

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The pharmacokinetics of antipyrine and sulphadimidine were studied in male camels, sheep and goats. The two drugs were administered concomitantly. Following intravenous injection of antipyrine (25 mg/kg) and sulphadimidine (sulfamethazine) (100 mg/kg), the pharmacokinetics of the two drugs were adequately described by a one-compartment model. Antipyrine half-life in goats (2.58 h) was shorter than that in sheep (4.04 h) and camels (18.78 h). The plasma clearance was greatest in goats then sheep and then camels. For sulphadimidine, a significantly greater volume of distribution was observed in camels and the greatest plasma clearance and shortest half-life were reported in goats. Sulphadimidine half-life was 2.77 h in goats, 4.72 h in sheep and 7.36 h in camels. The present results suggest that goats have the fastest elimination of these drugs from the circulation, followed by sheep and then camels.