[Effect of orally administered ivermectin on some blood haematological and biochemical factors in donkeys [Eqqus asinus]]

Five healthy adult male Iranian donkeys [Equus asinus] were selected and Ivermectin [0.2,0.6 and 0.9 mg/kg, orally at different times] for 14 days was administered. Before dosing, control blood samples were taken on day 0. Blood samples were taken on days 1,2,3,7 and 14 following ivermectin administration at different doses. The results showed that the activity of serum AST and LDH increased on days 7 and 14 following ivermectin [0.2, 0.6 and 0.9 mg/kg, orally] administration [p<0.05]. ALP activity and BUN concentration increased significantly on day 14 following ivermectin [0.2, 0.6 and 0.9 mg/kg, orally] administration [p<0.05]. Changes of ablumin, creatinin,glucose, total protein, Phosphorous and calcium concentrations and hemoglobin, PCV, MCH, MCHC, MCV and percentages of neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes, lymphocytes and platelet numbers were not significant [p>0.05]. As it was shown in short term, no abnormal clinical and laboratory findings were detected following different oral doses of ivermectin and it seems that the drug can be safely administered to this species

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of ivermectin in plasma.

A simple, sensitive, selective and reproducible method based on reversed-phase chromatography was developed for the determination of ivermectin in human plasma. The internal standard (moxidectin) was separated from ivermectin on a Hypersil Gold C18 column (150 x 4.6 mm, 5 microm particle size), with retention time of 3.7 and 7.0 minutes, respectively. Fluorescence detection was set at an excitation and emission wavelength of 365 and 475 nm, respectively. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile, methanol and distilled water (50:45:5, v/v/v), running through the column at a flow rate of 1.5 ml/minute. The chromatographic analysis was operated at 25 degrees C. Sample preparation (100 microl plasma) was done by a single step protein precipitation with acetonitrile, followed by derivatization with 100 microl of N-methylimidazole solution in acetonitrile (1:1, v/v) and 150 microl of trifluoroacetic anhydrous solution in acetonitrile (1:2, v/v). Calibration curve over the concentration range of 20-8000 ng/ml plasma was linear with correlation coefficient better than 0.995. The precision of the method based on within-day repeatability and reproducibility (day-to-day variation) was below 15% (coefficient of variation) Good accuracy was observed for both intra-day and inter-day assays, as indicated by the minimal deviation of mean values found with measured samples from that of the theoretical values (below +15%). Limit of quantification was 0.02 ng using 100 microl sample. The mean recovery for ivermectin and the internal standard was greater than 90%. The method was free from interference from endogenous substances and commonly used drugs. The method appears to be robust and has been applied to the investigation of plasma concentration vs time profile of ivermectin in five healthy Thai volunteers following a single oral dose of 200 microg ivermectin/kg body weight.