Tiamulin in fish farming: feed incorporation; analytical methods and residual elimination profile in tilapia fillet

• Grant number: 23/09767-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2023
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Toxicological Analysis
• Principal Investigator: Jonas Augusto Rizzato Paschoal
• Grantee: Paula Zanin de Sousa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/08152-0 - Challenge of the use of drugs in fish farming in the context of One Health: evaluation of efficacy, safety and risk analysis, AP.TEM

Abstract

It is estimated that in the next three decades the world population will reach the mark of 9.7 billion people. This expressive number brings with it a series of questions about the well-being of the population, including food security and preservation of the environment, which we need immediate answers. One of the main themes related to the food security of the population is the healthy and ecological growth for the creation of species for human consumption. In this context, fish farming has played a fundamental role in combating hunger, due to its nutrient-rich diet. Brazil, in turn, due to its large territorial extension and water resources, beneficial to its native fauna, plays a central role in this new theme. Intensive production systems adopted in aquaculture represent a scenario of conditions of greater vulnerability regarding the spread of infectious diseases among animals, in the event of the occurrence of pathogens of microbial origin, directly affecting the health of the fish and the safety of food for consumers. Differently from other animal production systems (cattle, pigs, poultry), aquaculture still lacks the availability of authorized and properly regulated veterinary drug alternatives for the treatment of infectious diseases in aquaculture production (non-ornamental) species. Currently, Brazil has only two regulated antimicrobial products for species exploited in aquaculture, creating a scenario that contributes to the continued use of few antimicrobial alternatives, favoring the development of antimicrobial resistance, with clear impacts on animal, human and environmental health. . Therefore, studies aimed at new drug alternatives for aquaculture are very important for the activity. Thus, this project aims to evaluate the residual depletion profile of an antimicrobial with potential use in tilapia breeding, tiamulin, an antibiotic belonging to the family of pleuromutilin diterpenes, used to enhance microbial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria . To this end, procedures for incorporating the drug into the feed for oral administration to fish will be studied, which will allow adequate treatment planning and lower risk of contamination of the aquatic environment. Furthermore, chromatographic methods will be developed associated with mass spectrometry with high selectivity, sensitivity and detectability, with adequate precision and accuracy, to be used in the analysis of medicated feed and fillet samples (muscle and skin in natural proportions) of fish from a clinical experiment with tilapias. These will receive the medicated feed in order to estimate a minimum withdrawal period to be recommended to ensure the conditions for maintaining the safety of the food to the consumer.