Veterinary antibiotics
Antibiotics in Veterinary Medicine
The ability of an antimicrobial drug to arrest the growth of or kill bacteria is dependent upon its mechanism of action and the concentration that the drug attains at the infection site. When a drug is introduced into the body, it is rapidly carried through the bloodstream to the liver, kidneys, and other organs that can chemically change or reduce its antibacterial activity and promote its excretion.
These processes of drug (1) absorption from its site of administration, its subsequent (2) distribution throughout the body and its elimination by (3) biochemical metabolism, and (4) excretion through the urine, bile, or other routes are pharmacokinetic parameters collectively given the acronym ADME. These variables are dependent both on the patient and on the physicochemical features and other properties of the antimicrobial drug.
This chemical and physiological processing by the body, as well as the lipid solubility and other chemical properties of the drug, affect the ability of the drug to penetrate infected tissues and make contact with pathogens that reside in interstitial fluids or host cells. The early exposure of pathogenic bacteria to effective drug concentrations for an optimum period of time is directly associated with the clinical success of antimicrobial drug therapy.
The tables below illustrate the veterinary importance of these antibiotics. The links provide additional drug information
Veterinary medicine drugs
Rational use of drugs in veterinary medicine has numerous benefits, such as increasing efficacy, decreasing the potential adverse effects, reducing risk of drug residue and combating development of microorganism’s drug resistance.
Bovine Mastitis
Mastitis in cows is one of the most common diseases plaguing the dairy industry. Bovine mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland caused from trauma or an infection, leading to abnormal and decreased milk production.
Apart from antibiotics, dairy farmers have few tools to treat the common and costly udder infection mastitis. To add to their tool kit, a team led by Dr. Gerlinde Van de Walle of the Baker Institute is exploring compounds secreted by stem cells as a potential therapy that may kill the bacteria while healing the damage they leave behind.
Dr. Gerlinde Van de Walle in her Baker Institute Lab photo by Rachel Philipson
The new project stems from a unique collaboration between the Baker Institute for Animal Health, part of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), and Elanco, a leading animal health company. Funding for the work comes from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), the New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI) and Elanco. All together, the project will receive $1.38 million, with about half coming from FFAR. While the research is still in early stages, the team hopes it will provide proof of concept that stem cell compounds have potential for treating mastitis and perhaps other diseases as well. “The long-term goal would be a natural product that could be an adjunct or even a replacement for antibiotics,” said Van de Walle, “that in itself would be huge.”
In addition, Dr. Laura Goodman of the Baker Institute is collaborating with scientists at the University of New Hampshire to study genetics of this costly dairy cow disease. Even with this heavy cost, there is limited information about the genetics of the bacteria that cause mastitis. Now researchers at the New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire in collaboration with colleagues at Cornell University have received a four-year $650,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agricultur
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