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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Animal Metabolism-Agricultural Chemicals Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #315368

Title: Excretory, secretory, and tissue residues after label and extra-label administration of flunixin meglumine to saline or lipopolysaccharide-exposed dairy cows

Author
item Smith, David
item Shelver, Weilin
item BAYNES, RONALD - North Carolina State University
item TELL, LISA - University Of California
item GEHRING, RONETTE - Kansas State University
item LI, MINGJIE - Kansas State University
item DUTKO, TERRY - Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
item SCHROEDER, J - North Dakota State University
item Herges, Grant
item RIVIERE, JIM - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/27/2015
Publication Date: 5/7/2015
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61182
Citation: Smith, D.J., Shelver, W.L., Baynes, R.E., Tell, L., Gehring, R., Li, M., Dutko, T., Schroeder, J.W., Herges, G.R., Riviere, J.E. 2015. Excretory, secretory, and tissue residues after label and extra-label administration of flunixin meglumine to saline or lipopolysaccharide-exposed dairy cows. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 63:4893-4901.

Interpretive Summary: Flunixin is an anti-inflammatory drug that is often used to relieve tenderness and fever associated with mastitis, a swelling associated with infection of the udder in dairy cows. Even though guidelines on the proper use of flunixin exist, regulatory agencies in the United States detect illegal quantities of flunixin residue in livers of dairy cows on a regular basis. This study was conducted to determine whether the route of flunixin administration (intravenous or intramuscular) or the presence of a bacterial toxin would influence the elimination of flunixin from dairy cows. The data generated from the study suggests that the presence of bacterial toxins in dairy cows may influence the metabolism and elimination patterns of flunixin to a greater extent than the route of flunixin administration.

Technical Abstract: Twenty lactating dairy cattle were intravenously infused with either lipopolysaccharide (n = 10) or sterile saline (n = 10). Five cattle in each group received 3 doses of flunixin meglumine administered by either IV infusion or IM injection at 24 h intervals. Milk, urine, and tissues were collected. Thirty-six h after the last flunixin administration, milk from 6 cows contained 5-hydroxy flunixin (5OHF) levels greater than the milk tolerance of 2 ng/mL; by 48 h, milk from two cows, a control and a LPS-treated animal, had violative milk concentrations of 5OHF. A single animal treated with LPS and IM flunixin contained violative flunixin residues in liver. The ratio of urinary flunixin:5OHF was correlated (P < 0.01; R2 = 0.946) with liver flunixin residues in LPS treated animals, but not (P = 0.96; R2 = 0.003) in cows treated with saline in lieu of LPS. Violative residues of flunixin in dairy cattle may be related to LPS inhibition of flunixin metabolism.