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Uptake and depuration of the antibiotics, oxytetracycline and Romet-30 in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg)

University of British Columbia

Use of antibiotics in the aquaculture industry for the control of bacterial infections in salmon has led to public concern regarding antibiotic residues in salmon tissue and the potential health risk this poses to humans. Oxytetracycline and Romet-30 are two common antibacterial agents utilized to control disease in the local finfish aquaculture industry of British Columbia, Canada. Many fish farms in British Columbia are located within close proximity to existing shellfish stocks. The potential for antibiotic bioconcentration and the production of bacterial resistance to the drugs in bivalves is a concern. The development of a solid phase extraction technique for these two drugs from Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas was accomplished. Analysis of whole oysters via HPLC revealed detectable levels of oxytetracycline and Romet-30 up to 4 weeks after antibiotic treatment at the salmon farm site. Oysters suspended in the salmon net pens and surrounding waters were sampled over a 5 month period. Concentration of oxytetracycline residues in oyster tissue reached a maximum of 0.11 ppm (n=2). Levels of sulphadimethoxine in oyster tissue reached a maximum concentration of 1.27 ppm (n=2). Maximum detectable concentrations of ormetoprim in oysters were 0.26 ppm (n=2). A controlled study investigating uptake and depuration of oxytetracycline and Romet-30 in the Pacific oyster revealed results similar to those described for the salmon farm. A flow through drug delivery system for the Pacific oyster was utilized over a ten day uptake and thirty day depuration period. Levels of oxytetracycline in whole animal tissue increased in a linear fashion (r²=0.984) over the uptake period. This indicates that the drug was bioaccumulated in the oyster reaching a maximum concentration of 10.72 ± 2.4 s.e. ppm (n= 3) on day 10 of uptake. Depuration of the drug was rapid. After thirteen days a concentration of 0.21 ± 0.04 s.e. ppm (n=7) was detected. The detection of Romet-30 in the uptake and depuration in the oyster was more erratic. Day 7 of uptake revealed a maximum concentration of sulphadimethoxine and ormetoprim of 1.092 ± 0.24 s.e. ppm (n=7) and 0.21 ppm (n=3) respectively. Depuration of Romet-30 was rapid. The concentration decreased to 0.029 ppm (n=3) by day 13. Condition indices of oysters sampled before and after antibiotic treatment indicated a significant increase (p<0.05) in condition index after treatment with medicated feed. A quantitative survey of bacteria associated with the gut of the oyster was performed. Relative numbers of endogenous bacteria were compared to oysters before and after antibiotic treatment. Numbers of bacteria significantly decreased (p< 0.05) following treatment.

Text

2010-10-07

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28991

Animal Science

University of British Columbia

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