Abstract:Objective—To compare toxicokinetic variables and
associated tissue drug concentrations with severity of
articular lesions in weight-bearing joints of juvenile
rabbits after oral administration of a fluoroquinolone.Animals—Ten 6- to 7-week-old, 800- to 1,200-g, New
Zealand White rabbits.Procedures—Rabbits were gavaged daily with the
fluoroquinolone PD 117596 at 500 mg/kg of body
weight for 5 days. Blood samples were collected on
day 4 at preestablished times, up to 24 hours after
drug administration. On day 5 gross lesion severity
and prevalence were evaluated in the major weight-bearing
joints, and tissue specimens were collected
(60 minutes after drug administration). Serum and tissue
drug concentrations were determined by microbiologic
plate assay.Results—Macroscopically, treatment rabbits had a
high prevalence of arthropathy with the distal portion
of the femur having the highest prevalence and severity
of lesions. Grossly, alterations to articular cartilage
included 1 to 4 mm in diameter vesicles or erosions.
Histologically, vesicles were identified in the midzone
or close to the zone of calcified cartilage of treatment
rabbits. Chondrocyte cellularity was reduced in affected
areas, and perivesicular regions had reduced staining
with Safranin O. Correlation analysis of area under
the curve values with total scores for lesion severity
had a significant positive relationship.Conclusions—Our findings support the use of juvenile
rabbits as a model for arthropathic changes
induced by fluoroquinolone administration. (Am J Vet
Res 2000;61:1396–1402)