Antimicrobial drugs are usually combined with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat various systemic infection accompanied by fever and other inflammatory conditions. The goal of this study was to assess the pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of ceftizoxime (CTZ) in female sheep (n=6) following single intramuscular (IM) injection (10 mg/kg body weight) alone and along with concomitant IM tolfenamic acid (TA) administration (4 mg/kg body weight). There were no adverse effects observed after both administration. Plasma CTZ concentrations were assayed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography(UHPLC)-UV method and analyzed according to non-compartment model. TA caused significant decrease in plasma concentrations of CTZ in combination administration. After single IM injection of CTZ of 10.00 mg/kg, the maximum plasma concentrations were 30.03 and 16.40 μg/ml achieved at 0.25 h of drug administration, respectively in both CTZ and CTZ+TA treatment. The mean values for the elimination half-life were 9.97 and 7.84 h and the area under curve (AUC0-last) values were 152.32 and 98.11 μg.h/ml, respectively in CTZ and CTZ+TA treatment. The absolute bioavailability of CTZ after 10.00 mg/kg IM injection was 122.67 % in CTZ+TA treatment. CTZ either alone or with TA showed favorable PK features in sheep with high bioavailability, moderate distribution and long persistence in body. CTZ with the dosage regimen of 10 mg/kg (IM) can be used effectively with TA (4 mg/kg, IM) for therapy of infections and inflammatory conditions in sheep.
Ceftizoxime (CTZ), Tolfenamic acid (TA) and Sheep
