Simultaneous determination of praziquantel and its main metabolites in the tissues of black goats and their residue depletion

Abstract

Praziquantel (PZQ) is a pyrazino-isoquinoline compound with broad spectrum of activity against parasitic trematodes and cestodes, and a key veterinary drug in the parasitic disease control field. However, PZQ residues caused by non-conforming or excessive use in food-producing animals may pose a serious threat to human health. Herein, a simple, sensitive and reproducible LC-MS/MS method was developed for the simultaneous determination of praziquantel and trans- and cis-4-hydroxypraziquantel in black goat tissues to guide the reasonable use of PZQ. The mean recoveries for three target analytes were 71.2 ∼ 117.6%, and the limits of quantification were 1.0 μg/kg. Twenty-five healthy black goats were administered a single dose of praziquantel tablets at a dose of 35 mg/kg of body weight for residue elimination study, The results revealed that praziquantel and 4-hydroxypraziquantel were rapidly depleted in goat tissues and the elimination half-lives did not exceed 1 day in all tissues except for muscle and lung. It provides guidance for the establishment of maximum residue limit of praziquantel in goat.

Keywords:

• Black goat
• praziquantel
• metabolites
• LC-MS/MS
• residue depletion

Ethical approval

The animal experiment was approved by the Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of South China Agricultural University.

Author contributions

Conception and design of study: Li-Min He. Acquisition of data: Tong-Yan Ding, Xiao-Gui Shu, Ren-Ping Xiong, Jing-Li Qiu, Lu Li. Analysis and interpretation of data: Tong-Yan Ding, Xiao-Gui Shu, Ren-Ping Xiong, Jing-Li Qiu, Lu Li. Drafting the manuscript: Tong-Yan Ding, Xiao-Gui Shu. Revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: Li-Min He.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful to the financial support from the Key Program of Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan [201804020019] and Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program [2019BT02N054].