Pangasianodon hypophthalmus is one of the most important aquaculture species in Southeast Asia, with a significant contribution to the world fish basket. Like other crops, the striped catfish suffers from bacterial diseases that demand the use of antibiotics. The present study has evaluated the safety of oxytetracycline, one of the approved and commonly used antibiotics, in this species. Juvenile stages of the fish (31.16 ± 1.03 g) were administered with the antibiotic in feed at the dose rate of 80–800 mg kg−1 body weight daily for 30 days, followed by 10 days of withdrawal observation. Fish health was assessed by the study of behaviour and feed intake, haematology, blood biochemistry, and histopathology. Results showed that up to 30 days of antibiotic treatment resulted in no significant toxic effects in terms of behaviour and fish mortality. However, fish suffered from reduced feed intake and hepatotoxicity evidenced by proliferative and degenerative changes of hepatocytes, and increase in AST and ALT enzyme activities, especially in 400–800 mg kg−1 doses which, however, recovered after withdrawal of the drug. Although few fish died from a bacterial infection at the lowest concentration of the drug used, fish were able to mount adaptive physiological responses best at 80 mg kg−1 fish dosage. The study establishes that in‐feed administration of the antibiotic oxytetracycline @ 80 mg kg−1 fish biomass is safe for therapeutic use in P. hypophthalmus.

ABSTRACT. In the present study, we have synthesized novel Isopropyl 2-(4-substitutedbenzylidene)-5-methyl-3-oxo-7-phenyl-3,7-dihydro-2H-thiazolo[3,2-a]-pyrimidine-6-carboxylate derivatives (6a-j). Elemental analysis, IR, 1 H NMR and mass spectral data elucidated structure of newly synthesized compounds. The newly synthesized compounds were screened for antiinflammatory and anti microbial studies. Their biological activity data of the 10 compounds indicates that two compounds posses potent anti-inflammatory and five have antimicrobial activities.

In two experimental trials; florfenicol pharmacokinetics following a single dose oral administration at 15 mg kg−1 fish body weight and biosafety through extended medicated feeding were studied in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. The pharmacokinetic trial was conducted for 5 days, whereas the biosafety experiment lasted for a 30-day safety margin followed by a 20-day residual period analysis at 3, 5 and 10 times greater than the therapeutic dose 10 mg kg−1 biomass day−1. Cmax µg kg−1 calculated for florfenicol were found to be 5,360 in intestine, 2,890 in gill, 2,250 in kidney, 973 in liver and 273 in plasma, obtained at Tmax of 16 h. Intestine had utmost area under the concentration–time curve (tissue/plasma) of 13.83 h μg kg−1 and a prolonged half life (t1/2ß) of 28.62 h. The highest apparent metabolic rate value in the kidney (0.327) showed a high level of biotransformation of florfenicol to its metabolite florfenicol amine. The apparent distribution rate of florfenicol amine in muscle, in comparison to the parent drug florfenicol, indicated elimination of the medication mostly in the form of florfenicol amine with t1/2 of 16.75 h. The biosafety of florfenicol orally administered to rainbow trout recorded effective feed consumption, physiological responses, drug tolerance and significantly low drug concentrations in muscle of rainbow trout, thus its usage at 10 mg kg−1 fish body weight is recommended. In the study, the rapid absorption, greater bioavailability, enhanced dispersion, slower elimination and biosafety of the drug form a significant basis for the florfenicol and its metabolite florfenicol amine as a useful antibacterial agent in aquaculture.

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