Bioavailability of amprolium in fasting and nonfasting chickens after intravenous and oral administration

The bioavailability of amprolium (APL) was measured after intravenous (i.v.) and oral (p.o.) administration to chickens. Twelve healthy chickens weighing 1.28–1.41 kg received a dose of 13 mg APL/kg intravenously, and 13 or 26 mg APL/kg orally in both a fasted and a nonfasted condition in a Latin square design. Plasma samples were taken from the subwing vein for determination of APL concentration by HPLC method. The data following intravenous and oral administration were best fitted by 2-compartment and 1-compartment models, respectively, using weighted nonlinear least squares regression. The half-life beta t _½β, volume of distribution ( V d) and total body clearance ( Cl ) after intravenous administration were 0.21 h, 0.12 L/kg and 1.32 L/h.kg, respectively. The elimination half-life ( t _½ K_el) after oral administration was 0.292–0.654 h which is 1.5–3.2 times longer than after intravenous administration, suggesting the presence of a 'flip-flop' phenomenon in chickens. The maximum plasma concentration ( C _max) of 13 mg/kg APL administered orally to chickens during fasting was significantly (about four times) higher than that during nonfasting ( P < 0.05). Bioavailability during nonfasting was from 2.3 to 2.6%, and 6.4% during fasting.