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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Food Animal Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #408690
Research Project: Detection and Fate of Environmental Chemical and Biological Residues and their Impact on the Food Supply

Location: Food Animal Metabolism Research

Title: Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) studies of [14C]-nitrofurazone residues in broiler chickens

Author
item Singh, Anuradha
item Smith, David

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2023
Publication Date: 3/20/2024
Citation: Singh, A., Smith, D.J. 2024. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) studies of [14C]-nitrofurazone residues in broiler chickens. American Chemical Society Abstracts. PAPER ID: 3979584.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Nitrofurazone (NF) is an antibiotic banned from use in food animals because of its potential carcinogenicity/mutagenicity. Regulatory agencies screen poultry for NF exposure by detecting the semicarbazide (SEM) moiety of NFZ which is released upon mild hydrolysis of tissue-bound NF metabolites. But SEM detection has proven to return false positive results in unexposed animals. Therefore, identification of a NF-specific alternative marker is a pressing need. To this end, ADME studies of 14C-NF in broiler chickens were performed. NFs containing 14C either at the furaldehyde carbon (NF-A) or the carbonyl carbon of SEM (NF-B) were synthesized and groups of 12 birds were provided feed containing 14C-NF-A or 14C-NF-B (5 mg/kg) for 7 consecutive days. Control birds (n=6) were fed with NF-free feed. Birds were euthanized on withdrawal days (WD) 0, 4, 7, and 14 and blood and tissues were harvested. Total radioactive residues in liver, kidney, muscle, and gizzard were determined by oxidation followed by liquid scintillation counting (LSC). At WD 0, kidney was the major depot for total radioactive residues followed by liver and muscle (about 636 ng/g to 180 ng/g, NFZ equiv). At WD 14, radioactive residues were detected in a range from about 67 ng/g to 17 ng/g (NFZ equiv) in the same tissues. Total radioactive residue depletion data in liver and muscle were fit to a one-phase exponential decay curve using least squared regression, which suggested no difference (P > 0.20) in the depletion rate between NF-A and NF-B. Extraction of liver or muscle tissues in organic solvents indicated that about >70% NF-related residues were bound to the tissues, regardless of withdrawal day. Total radioactive analysis in other tissues and metabolite identification studies are undergoing.