Assessment of elimination profile of albendazole residues in fish

ABSTRACT

Few drugs are specifically regulated for aquaculture. Thus this study considered albendazole (ABZ) as a potential drug for use in fish, which, however, is not yet regulated for this application. ABZ is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic approved for farmed ruminants and recently considered for treatment of fish parasites. It is the subject of careful monitoring because of potential residues in animal products. This study evaluated the depletion of ABZ and its main known metabolites: albendazole sulfoxide – ABZSO, albendazole sulfone – ABZSO₂ and albendazole amino sulfone – ABZ-2-NH₂SO₂, in the fillets of the Neotropical Characin pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus, which were fed diets containing 10 mg ABZ kg⁻¹ body weight in a single dose. Fish were euthanised at 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after medication and the depletion profiles of ABZ, each metabolite and the sum of all marker residues were assessed and evaluated taking into account methodological variations regarding determination of the maximum residue limits adopted by different international regulating agencies for estimation of the withdrawal period (WP). The estimated WPs ranged from 2 to 7 days.

KEYWORDS:

• Food safety
• veterinary drug residues
• albendazole
• aquaculture
• drug depletion
• withdrawal time

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP - São Paulo Research Foundation), Grant # 2012/18334-0 and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (CAPES - Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo [12/18334-0].