Residue Depletion of Imidocarb in Swine Tissue

Abstract

A residue depletion study was performed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine a withdrawal period of imidocarb (IMD) in swine tissues. The drug was administered intramuscularly (im) at the dose of 2.0 mg kg(-1) of body weight (bw) once a day for 3 days. Samples of muscle, fat, liver, kidney, and injection site muscle from 5 pigs were collected on 7, 14, 28, and 56 days after the last administration. Quantitative analysis of IMD was conducted by HPLC-UV at 260 nm after liquid-liquid extraction. The limit of detection (LOD) of the method was 0.1 microg g(-1) for liver and kidney and 0.05 microg g(-1) for muscle and fat, respectively. Mean recoveries of IMD in all fortified samples at a concentration range of 0.1-25 microg g(-1) were 69.5-89.3%, with a coefficient of variation (CV) below 13.3%. In swine, the highest drug levels occurred in liver and kidney during the whole study period, suggesting that these tissues are targets for residues. IMD concentrations in all examined tissues were below the accepted maximum residue limits (MRLs) recommended by the Committee for Veterinary Medical Products (CVMP) of the European Medical Evaluation Agency (EMEA) at 54 days post-treatment.