Depletion study and estimation of the withdrawal period for albendazole in tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) parasitised by acanthocephalan (Neoechinorhynchus buttnerae) treated with albendazole-containing feed

ABSTRACT

This study provides the first data related to albendazole (ABZ) and its main metabolites [albendazole sulphoxide (ABZSO), albendazole sulphone (ABZSO₂), and albendazole-2-amino sulphone (ABZ-2-NH₂-SO₂)] residue depletion in tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) parasitised by acanthocephalan (Neoechinorhynchus buttnerae). The ABZ withdrawal period was also calculated. The fish received a daily dose of 10 mg ABZ kg⁻¹ body weight (b.w.) via medicated feed for 34 days. Samples of target tissue (muscle plus skin in natural proportions) were collected 24, 48, 72, 120, 168, 240, and 336 h after the end of ABZ administration. The quantitation of ABZ residues and its metabolites in the target tissue was performed using a validated ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) analytical method. After treatment, ABZ in the target tissue was rapidly metabolised over time, and ABZSO was the most persistent metabolite and was shown to be at the highest levels in the target tissue. Considering the maximum residue limit (MRL) established by Codex Alimentarius in the muscle (100 μg kg⁻¹, species not specified), a withdrawal period of 4 days (112 °C-day) was estimated for the total residue (sum of ABZ and its metabolite residues). Considering data reported in the literature and data obtained in this study, it is suggested that the total residue be considered as marker residue to be adopted for fish in the legislative framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Chromatography - LC/MS
• veterinary drugs
• fish
• animal feed
• albendazole

Acknowledgments

Rafaelle Cordeiro thanks the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the scholarship (process number 140085/2015-7) and Felix Reyes also thanks the CNPq for the researcher’s scholarship (process number 306141/2017-5). The authors would like to thank the technical support from Franmir Rodrigues Brandão and Caio Francisco Santana Farias in carrying out the experimental assay with the fish, and to Amadeu Hoshi Iglesias (Apex Science, Campinas, SP, Brazil) for conducting the ABZ determination in the medicated feed.

Credit authorship contribution statement

Rafaelle Cordeiro: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft; Patricia Braga: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – review; Maria Juliete Rocha: Investigation; Edsandra Chagas: Resources, Founding acquisition, Investigation; Felix Reyes: Conceptualization, Project administration, Supervision, Resources, Founding acquisition, Writing – review & editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation-Agilent Technologies (FAPESP-Agilent) under Grant number 2013/50452-5), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES/PROEX) under financial code 001, and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) under Grant number MP2 01.02.09.003.00.00, Brazil.