The influence of propionic acid pre-treatment on the oral pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin in broiler chickens

Propionic acid, an organic acid commonly utilized as a feed additive in broiler chickens, serves as an acidifier. Its application can impact the oral pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin, a promising antimicrobial drug exclusive to veterinary use, extensively employed in poultry farming. Consequently, this present investigation was conducted to examine the influence of pre-treatment with propionic acid (4 g/L in drinking water for 10 days) on the pharmacokinetics of marbofloxacin after its oral administration (5 mg/kg body weight) in broiler chickens. A single oral dose of marbofloxacin was administered to broiler chickens both without (Group-I) and with propionic acid pre-treatment (Group-II). Blood sampling at pre-determined time points was done for both groups, and plasma marbofloxacin concentrations were quantified using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. The pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using non-compartmental modeling through the ‘PK solver 2.0’ software. To compare the mean differences between the two groups, an independent sample t-test was employed. A statistically significant difference was observed in the marbofloxacin concentrations obtained from the two groups at the time points of 0.0833 hours (5 minutes) and 4 hours (P≤0.01). Group I displayed a higher maximum plasma drug concentration (Cmax) of 2.43 µg/mL in comparison to Group II, which exhibited a Cmax of 2.08 µg/mL. The mean elimination half-life (t½β) of marbofloxacin was extended by 1.1 hours in Group-II compared to Group-I. However, none of the pharmacokinetic parameters exhibited statistically significant differences between the two groups, indicating that there is no necessity for dosage adjustment of marbofloxacin in broiler chicken flocks receiving propionic acid as a growth promoter.