RT Journal Article
T1 Pharmacokinetics of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam after administration of multiple doses to nursehound sharks (Scyliorhinus stellaris)
A1 Morón Elorza, Pablo
A1 Rojo Solís, Carlos
A1 Álvaro Álvarez, Teresa
A1 Valls Torres, Mónica
A1 García Párraga, Daniel
A1 Encinas Cerezo, María Teresa
AB Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics of meloxicam in the nursehound shark (Scyliorhinus stellaris) during multiple dose administration.Study design: Prospective experimental trial.Animals: A total of eight clinically healthy adult nursehounds (four males, four females).Methods: Meloxicam was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 1.5 mg kg–1 once daily for 7 days. Blood samples were collected from the caudal vein for pharmacokinetic analysis at 2.5 hours and 24 hours after drug administration. After a 4 week washout period, meloxicam was administered orally at the same dose at 12 hour intervals for three repeated doses. Blood samples were collected at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours after the first administration. Sharks were visually monitored during each study and 4 weeks afterwards for side effects or signs of toxicity. Time required to achieve steady state was assessed by visual inspection and statistical comparison of peak and trough concentrations using a Friedman test; comparison between sexes was performed using a Mann–Whitney U test and p-value was set at 0.05.Results: No animal died or showed clinical signs of toxicity during the study. Meloxicam administered orally did not produce detectable concentrations in plasma. After intramuscular administration, steady state was achieved after five doses, and mean trough and peak plasma concentrations at steady state were 1.76 ± 0.21 μg mL–1 and 3.02 ± 0.23 μg mL–1, respectively. Mean peak concentration accumulation ratio was 2.50 ± 0.22.Conclusions and clinical relevance: This study shows that intramuscular posology produces plasma concentrations considered therapeutic for other species. However, meloxicam was not detected in plasma after oral administration. These results suggest that meloxicam administered intramuscularly may be a useful non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug in nursehound sharks. Further pharmacodynamic studies are needed to fully evaluate its clinical use in this species.
PB Elsevier
SN 1467-2987
YR 2023
FD 2023-09-27
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103546
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/103546
LA eng
NO Authors’ contributions: PME: study design, conducting experiments, data acquisition, photography, preparation of the manuscript. CRS: conducting experiments, data acquisition, revision of the manuscript. TAA and MVT: conducting experiments, revision of the manuscript. DGP: study design, revision of the manuscript. TE: study design, data acquisition, revision of the manuscript.
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Fundación Oceanogràfic
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 abr 2025