Pharmacotherapeutic group:
intestinal anti-infectives; antibiotics.
ATC Vet Code:
QA07AA06
Pharmacodynamic properties
Paromomycin has antiprotozoal activity, although its mechanism of action is unclear. In in vitro studies using HCT-8 and Caco-2 cell lines inhibitory activity against C. parvum was observed.
Resistance of cryptosporidia to paromomycin has not been described to date. Nevertheless, the use of aminoglycosides is associated with the occurrence of bacterial resistance. Paromomycin may select for cross-resistance to other aminoglycosides.
Pharmacokinetic particulars
The bioavailability of paromomycin when administered as a single oral dose of 35 000 IU paromomycin/kg bodyweight to 2 - 6 week old calves was 2.75%. With regard to the absorbed fraction, the mean peak plasma concentration (Cmax) was 1.48 mg/l, the mean time to attain the peak plasma concentration (Tmax) was 4.5 hours and the mean terminal half-life (t1/2, el) was 11.2 hours. The main part of the dose is eliminated unchanged in the faeces while the absorbed fraction is excreted almost exclusively in urine as unchanged paromomycin. Paromomycin displays age-related pharmacokinetics, with the greatest systemic exposure occurring in newborn animals.
Environmental properties
The active ingredient paromomycin is very persistent in soil.