TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP Royal Pavilion Resort, Atlantic Beach, NC MARCH 9-11, 1999 Plasma Deposition Pharmacokinetics Of Oxytetracycline In Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Following Different Routes Of Administration Brent C. Bowden and Stephen A. Smith Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 Oxytetracycline is one of two antibiotics currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as a chemotherapeutic in food fish. Recent pharmacokinetic studies of oxytetracycline (OTC) have been conducted in cold water species (e.g. rainbow trout and tench) and warm water species (e.g. African catfish, carp and pacu). However to date, these OTC pharmacokinetic studies have not been conducted on a cool water species such as yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Yellow perch is a cool water game and commercial species with potential aquaculture value. We conducted a study to determine the plasma deposition pharmacokinetics of oxytetracycline in yellow perch following different routes of administration. Using HPLC, we determined the residual OTC concentrations in plasma over a fourteen day period following a single intraperitoneal, intramuscular and oral administration of OTC at 50 mg/kg. Return to 24th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page