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Pharmacological particulars
Pharmacotherapeutic group: Antibacterial, Tetracycline.
ATCvet code: QJ01AA02
Pharmacodynamic properties
Doxycycline belongs to the group of the tetracycline antibiotics. These antibiotics have a broad-spectrum of antimicrobial activity, sharing the same basic structure of polycyclic naphthacenecarboxamide.
Doxycycline is primarily a bacteriostatic drug. It exerts its action by inhibiting the protein synthesis of the bacterial cell. Inhibition of bacterial protein synthesis results in disturbance of all functions necessary for the life of bacteria. Cell-division and the formation of the cell wall in particular are impaired.
Doxycycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, active against a large number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative, aerobe and anaerobe micro-organisms, Mycoplasmata, Chlamydiae and Rickettsiae.
For Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale results demonstrate a great variation from high to low susceptibility, depending on the geographical region where isolates came from.
In pig pathogens resistance against doxycycline may also vary; in particular susceptibility figures of A. pleuropneumoniae may differ from country to country and even farm to farm.
Four resistance mechanisms acquired by micro-organisms against tetracyclines in general have been reported: decreased accumulation of tetracyclines (decreased permeability of the bacterial cell wall and active efflux), protein protection of the bacterial ribosome, enzymatic inactivation of the antibiotic and rRNA mutations (preventing the tetracycline binding to ribosome). Tetracycline resistance is usually acquired by means of plasmids or other mobile elements (e.g. conjugative transposons). Cross-resistance between tetracyclines has also been described. Due to the greater liposolubility and greater facility to pass through cell membranes (in comparison to tetracycline), doxycycline retains a certain degree of efficacy against micro-organisms with acquired resistance to tetracyclines.
Pharmacokinetic properties
Doxycycline is absorbed in the stomach and the first part of the duodenum. Compared to the older tetracyclines, the absorption of doxycycline is less affected by the presence of bivalent cations in food. Bioavailability in non-fasted pigs is approximately 21%.
Following oral administration at a dose of 12.8 mg/kg body weight, steady state concentrations during medication range between a Cmin of 0.40 µg/ml in the early morning to a Cmax of 0.87 µg/ml in the late afternoon in pigs.
Following administration of doxycycline hyclate at an actual dose of 21 mg/kg body weight to chickens, mean plasma concentrations above 1 µg/ml were reached within 6 hours and lasted for 6 hours after cessation of medication. From 24 hours up to 96 hours after start of treatment, the doxycycline plasma concentrations exceeded 2 µg/ml.
Following administration of doxycycline hyclate at an actual dose of 10 mg/kg body weight, steady-state plasma concentrations ranged from 0.75-0.93 µg/g between 12-96 hours after start of medication.
Because doxycycline is highly lipid soluble, it has a good tissue penetration. Respiratory tract tissue: plasma ratios of 1.3 (healthy lungs), 1.9 (pneumonic lungs) and 2.3 (nasal mucosa) have been reported for doxycycline. Plasma protein binding is high (over 90%). Doxycycline is scarcely metabolised. Doxycycline is primarily excreted with the faeces.