Population pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin in purple sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) following an intracoelomic injection or extended immersion

OBJECTIVE To determine population pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin in purple sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) administered an intracoelomic injection of enrofloxacin (5 mg/kg) or immersed in an enrofloxacin solution (5 mg/L) for 6 hours. ANIMALS 28 sea stars of undetermined age and sex. PROCEDURES The study had 2 phases. Twelve sea stars received an intracoelomic injection of enrofloxacin (5 mg/kg) or were immersed in an enrofloxacin solution (5 mg/L) for 6 hours during the injection and immersion phases, respectively. Two untreated sea stars were housed with the treated animals following enrofloxacin administration during both phases. Water vascular system fluid samples were collected from 4 sea stars and all controls at predetermined times during and after enrofloxacin administration. The enrofloxacin concentration in those samples was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. For each phase, noncompartmental analysis of naïve averaged pooled samples was used to obtain initial parameter estimates; then, population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed that accounted for the sparse sampling technique used. RESULTS Injection phase data were best fit with a 2-compartment model; elimination half-life, peak concentration, area under the curve, and volume of distribution were 42.8 hours, 18.9 μg/mL, 353.8 μg•h/mL, and 0.25 L/kg, respectively. Immersion phase data were best fit with a 1-compartment model; elimination half-life, peak concentration, and area under the curve were 56 hours, 36.3 μg•h/mL, and 0.39 μg/mL, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested that the described enrofloxacin administration resulted in water vascular system fluid drug concentrations expected to exceed the minimum inhibitory concentration for many bacterial pathogens.