Pharmacokinetics of Artemisinin in Broiler Chickens after Intravenous and Oral Administrations

Artemisinin (ART), the active ingredient of Artemisia spp. is a promising anticoccidial agent. Since there is no documented information on pharmacokinetics (PK) of this herbal drug in poultry, the present study was carried out to explore PK parameters of ART in broiler chickens. Sixty-four healthy broiler chicks of 21 days old were randomly divided into 4 equal groups. In groups 1 and 2, each birdreceived a single dose of ART at 2 mg/kg by oral (PO) and intravenous (IV) administrations, respectively. But each bird in groups 3 and 4 was given 5 mg/kg ART by PO and IV, respectively. Blood samples were taken at different pre-determined time-points. The serum concentrations of ART were measured by using a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. PK parameters of ART (including maximum concentration, Cmax, time to reach maximum concentration, Tmax, area under the drug concentration-time curve, AUC, mean residence time, MRT, volume of distribution at steady state, Vss, and bioavailability, BA) were calculated through noncompartmental analysis. The Cmax values for 2 and 5 mg/kg were 4.29 ± 0.15 and 7.81 ± 0.39 ?g/ml; and the BA values (%) were 63.4 ± 4.8 and 69.3 ± 2.2, respectively. The Vss values after IV administration in groups 2 and 4 were 295 ± 19 and 484 ± 30 ml/kg, respectively. The relatively high BA and a low Vss for ART in the present study suggest that there is a species difference in PK of this compound in poultry.