Bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of oxytetracycline in cultured rainbow trout following intramusicular administration

Aquaculture production of rainbow trout has increased in Turkey in the recent years. There is great concern over the use of drugs for fish production. Bacterial diseases, if untreated, may lead to great economic losses in the form of fish mortality and reduced growth. Thus aquafarming uses a wide variety of drugs for prevention and treatment of disease in cultured fish. Among these drugs, oxytetracycline (OTC) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic used for the treatment of a variety diseases including vibriosis, furunculosis, enteric redmouth, bacterial haemorrhagic septicemia, fin rot, gill disease columnaris and edwardsiellosis (Black et al., 1991; Unb, 1996). There is a paucity of information on the pharmacokinetics of OTC in farmed fish. The pharmacokinetics of OTC may be changed by parameters such as fish species, age, water temperature and salinity, route of administration and other conditions. Therefore the present study was performed to investigate the pharmacokinetics, i.e. absorption, distribution and elimination, of OTC in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) after intra-muscular administration.