Effect of Calcium (Hardness of Water) on the Uptake of Ciprofloxacin in Bath-Medicated African Catfish (<i>Clarias gariepinus</i>)

Abstract

Seventy-two catfishes weighing between 200 and 250g (and distributed into 3 groups) were subjected to bath medication with ciprofloxacin at 25mg/litre of water. Medicated water of each group (24 catfishes/group) had the same pH of 6.6, after adjustment using sodium carbonate, but different levels of calcium hardness .Group A water had 12.5mg/litre of calcium hardness, while for groups B and C, the levels of the calcium hardness were adjusted to 212.5mg/litre and 412.5mg/litre respectively using calcium chloride. Samples (blood, liver, kidney and muscle) were taken from two randomly selected fishes in each group within 8 hours of exposure to ciprofloxacin. These were taken at 0 h, 0.5h, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, and 8 h and were preserved at-0.5°C, prior to processing and drug extraction. Ciprofloxacin level was quantified by ELISA. The sera area under the curve (AUC) values of groups A, B and C were 17,938.13 µg.hr./L, 18,883.75 µg.hr./L and 12,273.75 µg.hr./L respectively, showing that at the highest concentration of calcium ions in medicated water (as seen in group c) level of the absorption .of ciprofloxacin will be reduced , hence reduced bioavailability There was also a direct linear relationship between the AUC values for tissue and the level of calcium hardness of water. This study therefore suggests a need to strongly consider the influence of core chemical parameters of fish culture water such as hardness, alkalinity and pH, as these can reduce efficacy or increase toxicity of drugs that are administered to fish by bath method.

Pharmacokinetics of streptomycin sulfate in Staphylococcus aureus-infected Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822)

“…This phenomenon may be linked with the fact that the liver and kidney which are reddish-brown are richly vascularized (Hiran and Datta-Mushi, 1996) in comparison with the skeletal muscles. Similar patterns were noticed in the kinetics of Ciprofloxacin in Clarias gariepinus bath medicated at different concentrations and in soft and hard water (Oladele et al, 2010(Oladele et al, , 2011a. It is important to note that the first pass effect seems to influence a higher level of streptomycin AUC in liver of the un-infected group D, compared with the infected group C (Table 6) and this can result in more levels of the drug in other tissues of infected fish.…”

Pharmacokinetics of ciprofloxacin in bath medicated hybrid tilapias using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

“…Bath administration of fluoroquinolones via very hard and alkaline water can result in low tissue distribution and correspondingly have reduced systemic bactericidal effect. Effect of hardness (up to 412.5ppm) was demonstrated by Oladele et al (2010), in a study of the uptake of ciprofloxacin by Clarias gariepinus in medicated water at different levels of calcium hardness. Attaining a therapeutic tissue level is very important when administering antibiotics through any recommended route.…”