The use of antibiotics including ceftiofur in the veterinary aspect became necessary to help animals to overcome the most susceptible diseases.
So, FDA researchers do their best to discover all that's new, safe, and more effective in this issue.
Drprovet decided to show all that's to know about ceftiofur, and how it helped him to treat different diseases for different species of animals, through his great scientific and practical experience as a professional vet.
The article contents
- What is ceftiofur?
- Why is this antibiotic FDA-approved?
- Chemical forms and pharmacokinetics.
- What is ceftiofur used for?
- Doses of ceftiofur for different animals.
- Comparative study of ceftiofur hydrochloride and ceftiofur sodium.
- Precautions should be considered for ceftiofur injection.
What is ceftiofur?
It is a broad-spectrum antibiotic of the third-generation cephalosporins.
It has specific antimicrobial properties, including its resistance to beta-lactamase action (beta-lactam antimicrobial), and its time-dependent property (the degree of microbial killing is determined by the duration of drug administration.
Why is this antibiotic FDA-approved?
The FDA approval of ceftiofur is based on the safety of human consumption of meat and/or milk from animals treated by the drug according to label dosage.
For example, When cattle are treated with ceftiofur according to label dose, Neither a milk discard time nor pre-slaughter drug withdrawal interval is required as the drug cannot be secreted in milk and distributed into tissues.
But the use of overdose over that indicated leads to the presence of illegal residues in milk and/or in tissues.
Chemical forms of ceftiofur
Ceftiofur can be used as one of the 3 following forms:
Ceftiofur sodium (the salt form of ceftiofur).
Ceftiofur crystalline-free acid.
Ceftiofur hydrochloride.
Mechanism of antibacterial action of ceftiofur
It is easily metabolized to desfuroylcetftiofur, which has a strong antimicrobial activity as it binds to penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) on the cell wall inner membrane of the bacteria and inhibits their action.
The PBPs Inactivation reduces the cross-linkage of peptidoglycan chains which are responsible for bacterial cell wall strength and rigidity, and so it weakens cell wall causing cell lysis and bacterial death.
Excretion of ceftiofur
The Intramuscularly administered ceftiofur is excreted by 55% of the dose in the urine and about 30% in the feces within the first 24 hours.
What is ceftiofur used for?
This antibiotic is widely used for variable animal species as a treatment of different diseases, including:
Respiratory diseases associated with Mannheiia haemolytica in both cattle and lambs.
Bacterial Pneumonia in sheep that are mainly associated with Pasteurella multocida and Mannheiia haemolytica.
Footrot (acute bovine interdigital necrobacillosis) in cows that's mainly caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum.
Coliforms mastitis through intramammary administration, but it is an extralabel use.
Respiratory diseases are caused by streptococcus zooepidemicus in horses.
Extralabel use for diseases caused by gram-negative bacilli, such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and salmonella,
Urinary tract infection in dogs that are associated with Proteus Mirabilis and Escherichia coli.
In poultry, it prevents early chick mortality due to Staphylaococosis, Collibacillosis, Streptococcosis, Salmonellosis, Citrobacter, Pasteurellosis, Bacillus, Enterobacter, and Proteus species.
Swine respiratory disease caused by Pasteurella multimedia and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniiae.
Acute metritis in dairy cattle.
Doses of ceftiofur for each animal species
The recommended doses for each animal species include:
Cattle: The widely recommended dose of ceftiofur is 2.2 mg/kg body weight by either intramuscular or subcutaneous injection every 24 hours for 3 sequent days.
Swine: intramuscular injection of ceftiofur sodium at the dosage of 3 mg/kg body weight (1 ml / 17 kg body weight) every 24 hours for 3 sequent days.
Sheep: the ideal dose is 2.2 mg/kg body weight intramuscularly.
Horses: injection of 2 mg ceftiofur/kg body weight (2ml / 50 kg body weight) intramuscularly, and the dose should be continued for 48 hours after symptoms disappearance.
For neonatal foals, the recommended dose of ceftiofur sodium for neonatal foals is 5 - 10 mg/kg body weight every 12 hours. But this dose cannot be used for adult horses to avoid inducing antimicrobial-associated colitis.
And the recommended dose for the protection of neonatal foals is 6.6 mg CCFA / kg body weight subcutaneously every 3 days.
Calves: the recommended dose is 5 mg ceftiofur sodium /kg body weight every 24h intramuscularly to decrease fever and diarrhea, but it can't eradicate the organism.
Dog: In urinary tract infections of dogs, the recommended dose is 2 mg/kg for 5 -14 days.
Day- old chicks: the dose is 0.08-0.2 mg ceftiofur / chick subcutaneously.
Comparison for ceftiofur sodium and ceftiofur hydrochloride
There's a study that targeted the evaluation of pharmacokinetics and bioavailability after administration of ceftiofur hydrochloride and ceftiofur sodium to water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).
Animals used for the study were 5 adults healthy water buffalo (3 males and 2 non-lactating females).
The 5 tested animals were administered 2.2 mg/kg of 3 ceftiofur products.
2 of these products are ceftiofur hydrochloride (CEF1 and CEF2) intramuscularly and the third product is ceftiofur sodium (CEF3) intravenously.
The collection of blood samples was up to 196 hours.
The ceftiofur concentrations in plasma were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography,
Noncompartmental methods were used to calculate pharmacokinetic parameters.
The results of this study confirm that most of the pharmacokinetic parameters, except for bioavailability, where s different between the 2 intramuscular injected products Mean ± SD bioavailability of CEF1 was 89.57 ± 32.84% and CEF2 was 86.28 ± 11.49%.
These results are a strong indicator for good absorption of both products. In addition, there was a longer drug residence time for CEF1 than for CEF2. Data analysis for CEF1 revealed a flip-flop phenomenon
The study conclusion is that a dose of 2.2 mg/kg body weight of CEF2 administered at 48 hours and CEF1 36-hour intervals could be a perfect dose for the treatment of buffalo infectious diseases.
Precautions should be considered for ceftiofur injection
In cattle, The injection of ceftiofur sodium may cause pain and color change at the injection site.
Diagnosis should be redetermined If no improvement is seen within 3 - 5 days,
If horses are injected under stress conditions, that may cause acute diarrhea that could be fatal.
The drug isn't recommended for breeding swine and animals intended for breeding.
Safety in breeding animals and suckling foals (under 6 months of age) has not been established.
This drug is contraindicated in animals with signs of reversible thrombocytopenia.
Anemia in dogs was observed when treated with the drug for a prolonged period (over 14 days).
Drug safety in lactating, pregnant, breeding, and neonatal animals has not been established.
Treated swine and lambs must not be slaughtered for use in food for at least 24 hours after the latest treatment with this drug.