Pharmacokinetics of an immunomodulating dose of levamisole in weaned pigs

Abstract

Levamisole has been shown to stimulate the immune response in immunocompromised humans and animals. However, its use as an adjuvant in immunocompromised weaned pigs prone to colibacillosis has only been experimentally tested but not yet officially approved. Therefore, the aim of these studies was to study the pharmacokinetics (PK) of an immunomodulating dose of levamisole in weaned pigs. For that purpose, 20 weaned crossbred pigs were divided into two treatment groups. In this parallel-design study, a single dose of levamisole (2.5 mg/kg body weight) was administered by the intramuscular (i.m.) or oral (p.o.) route. Statistically significant differences between the i.m. and p.o. routes in terminal beta rate constant (β), maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), area under the curve (AUC) for plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC0-inf), area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time 0 to the last quantifiable time point (AUC0-t) were determined. Further research is needed to establish a relationship between the PK and the immunomodulating effect of levamisole in pigs.