Residue depletion and withdrawal time estimation of tilmicosin in black-bone silky fowls after administration via drinking water

In this study, residue depletion and withdrawal time estimation of tilmicosin were examined in Taihe black-bone silky fowls (TBSFs) after oral administration for three consecutive days at a dose of 75 mg/L in water. The tilmicosin concentrations in liver, kidney, muscle, and skin/fat of TBSFs collected from different time points (0.16, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 20, 30, 40 days after last administration) were determined by UPLC-MS/MS. The results indicated that the tilmicosin concentrations in TBSFs tissues varied significantly, and kidney had the highest average concentrations (2604.65 ± 4625.20 μg/kg), followed by liver (1125.54 ± 1479.24 μg/kg), skin/fat (372.81 ± 428.33 μg/kg), and muscle (104.52 ± 143.95 μg/kg). Meanwhile, tilmicosin was still detected in all the four studied tissues (liver, kidney, skin/fat, and muscle) of TBSFs at the last time point (40th day after administration), suggesting that tilmicosin in TBSFs depleted slowly. Based on our experiments, the recommended withdrawal time of tilmicosin for TBSFs after oral administration for three consecutive days at a dose of 75 mg/L in water should be 32 days, which is much longer than the duration specified by Chinese regulatory authorities (10 days), and the abundance of melanin in TBSFs might be responsible for this phenomenon. Hence, a special use and withdrawal procedure of veterinary drugs in TBSFs is needed, and it is essential to focus on potential involvement of melanin in tilmicosin accumulation.