Depletion of four nitrofuran antibiotics and their tissue-bound metabolites in porcine tissues and determination using LC-MS/MS and HPLC-UV

Abstract

Depletion of the nitrofuran antibiotics furazolidone, furaltadone, nitrofurantoin and nitrofurazone and their tissue-bound metabolites AOZ, AMOZ, AHD and SEM from pig muscle, liver and kidney tissues is described. Groups of pigs were given feed medicated with one of the nitrofuran drugs at a therapeutic concentration (400?mg?kg(-1)) for ten days. Animals were slaughtered at intervals and tissue samples collected for analysis for six weeks following withdrawal of medicated feed. These samples were analysed both for parent nitrofurans (using LC-MS/MS and HPLC-UV), and for tissue-bound metabolites (using LC-MS/MS). The parent drugs were detectable only sporadically and only in pigs subjected to no withdrawal period whatsoever. This confirms the instability of the four major nitrofuran antibiotics in edible tissues. In contrast, the metabolites accumulated to high concentrations in tissues (ppm levels) and had depletion half lives of between 5.5 and 15.5 days. The metabolites of all four drugs were still readily detectable in tissues six weeks after cessation of treatment. This emphasizes the benefits of monitoring for the stable metabolites of the nitrofurans.

Development of a Competitive ELISA for the Detection of a Furaltadone Marker Residue, 3-Amino-5-Morpholinomethyl-2-Oxazolidinone (AMOZ), in Cultured Fish Samples

“…These techniques rely on expensive instruments operated by well-trained analysts and prior preparation of analytes, which is time-consuming. Various methods have been released for the determination of AMOZ in poultry, porcine, shrimp and the retina by HPLC-UV [8], LC-MS [16], and LC-MS/MS [3,12,19]. The detection limits of the screening and confirmatory methods are reported herein (Table 1), and the sensitivity of the immunoassay method was well below the instrumental methods in general.…”

“…The minimum required performance limit (MRPL) for nitrofurans was set at 1 µg kg −1 in poultry meat and aquaculture products by Commission Decision 2003/181/EC amending Decision 2002/657/EC [6,7]. Previously, nitrofurans had been widely and effectively used for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal and dermatological infections caused by Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Mycoplasma spp., coliforms Coccidia spp., and some other protozoa, and as growth promoters in livestock [12].…”

Feasibility of a novel multispot nanoarray for antibiotic screening in honey

“…Although analytical methods, HPLC-UV and LC-MS/MS, are available for both nitrofurans and CAP (Conneely et al, 2003;O'Keeffe et al, 2004;Cooper et al, 2005;Vivekanandan et al, 2005;Han et al, 2011;Douny et al, 2013), it is acknowledged that these methods are expensive, require skilled personnel and are time consuming. The need therefore for simple, rapid and efficient analytical methods for antibiotics that can be handled by relatively unskilled operators has been recognised.…”

“…Parent nitrofuran compounds are quickly metabolised after ingestion and have very short in vivo half-lives. Monitoring of nitrofurans is therefore based on the monitoring of the tissue-bound metabolites of nitrofurans as they remain in the body for many weeks after treatment (McCracken and Kennedy, 1997;Cooper et al, 2005). The four main nitrofuran antibiotics are furaltadone, furazolidone, nitrofurazone and nitrofurantoin with the resulting tissue bound metabolite residues AMOZ, AOZ, SEM and AHD produced respectively.…”

“…The development of rapid, inexpensive, accurate, multi residue and easy to use screening methods are therefore of primary importance in the food industry. Sensitive methods for nitrofuran metabolites for both screening (ELISA) and confirmatory methods (LC-MS/MS) were first developed by the EU FoodBRAND project (Cooper et al, 2004a;2004b;Cooper et al, 2005). Analytical procedures for nitrofuran analysis in various matrices by screening and confirmation methods with respect to EU regulations are reviewed in Vass et al (2008).…”