Bioavailability of enrofloxacin after oral administration to fed and fasted pigs

The disposition of enrofloxacin was measured after intravenous and oral administration to pigs. Eight clinically healthy pigs weighing 25 to 40 kg received a dose of 5 mg/kg intravenously and 10 mg/kg orally in both a fasted and a fed condition in a three-way cross-over design. Enrofloxacin was present in plasma for up to 72 hr after both intravenous and oral administration to fasted as well as fed pigs. The steady state volume of distribution was determined to 3.9+/-0.5 l\kg body weight which indicates that enrofloxacin was widely distributed in the body. The bioavailability was determined to 83+/-13% in fed and to 101+/-32% in fasted pigs. Based on the bioavailability and the resulting plasma concentrations it is concluded that a therapeutically active concentration for the most common porcine microbial pathogens are maintained for at least 24 hr after oral administration of 10 mg/kg body weight to fasted as well as to fed pigs. Ciprofloxacin which is an active metabolite of enrofloxacin was observed in plasma samples from all treated pigs, but the concentration never exceeded 0.1 mu g/ml. During the first 24 hr after the administration of enrofloxacin the concentration of the metabolite made up less than 10% of the corresponding concentration of the parent compound.