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Not AvailableThe pharmacokinetics of albendazole was studied in sheep following single oral and intraruminal administration at nematocidal dose rates. The disposition curves of its metabolites indicated increased uptake of the drug in sheep following intraruminal as compared to oral dosing (p50.05). The increased bioavailability of benzimidazole anthelmintics given by the intraruminal route could be exploited for optimizing the use of anthelmintic for sustained parasite control in small ruminants.ICAR and NDD

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Not AvailableThe in£uence of the quality and quantity of diets on the disposition kinetics of albendazole were studied in sheep in two di¡erent experiments. The plasma concentration pro¢les of albendazole sulphoxide and albendazole sulphone were measured following intraruminal administration of albendazole at 5.0 mg/ kg body weight in weaner sheep o¡ered three di¡erent diets: 100% green Sorghum spp., 100% dry mature Cenchrus ciliaris hay and a 50:50 mix of these two diets. The peak plasma concentrations and the availability of the albendazole metabolites, as measured by the area under the concentration^time curve, were signi¢cantly higher (p50.01) in the animals o¡ered exclusively dry fodder compared to other diets. Changing the diet from dry to green fodder resulted in a signi¢cantly lower systemic availability of the drug metabolites. It is suggested that a decreased transit time of the digesta in the bowel on the green diet, with its high water content, limited the systemic availability of the drug by reducing the time available for gastrointestinal absorption. An experiment on the in£uence of di¡erent levels of pretreatment fasting on the pharmacokinetics of albendazole revealed signi¢cantly higher (p50.05) plasma concentrations of the anthelmintically active sulphoxide metabolite from 12 h onwards following administration of the drug in animals subjected to 24 h of pretreatment fasting compared to other groups with pretreatment fasting of 8, 12 or 18 h. The area under the concentration^time curve and the minimum residence time of the drug metabolites were signi¢cantly greater (p50.05) in animals that had been fasted for 24 h. It is suggested that fasting induces a decrease in the £ow of digesta through the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants and prolongs the duration of dissolution of the drug, resulting in enhancement of the absorption of albendazole and of the systemic availability of its metabolites.ICAR and NDD

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