Toxicological studies on potentiated ionophores in chickens. II. Compatibility study

Two trials were carried out on a total of 2 x 360 Tetra-82 broiler chickens to study how the presence of the antioxidant duokvin as potentiating agent influenced the compatibility of reduced doses of monensin (12.5 mg/kg of feed) or maduramicin (3.0 mg/kg of feed) with other chemotherapeutic agents (tiamulin, erythromycin, sulfaquinoxaline, sulfachlorpyrazine, flumequine, tylosin, kitasamycin) widely used in broiler rearing. Compatibility was assessed on the basis of the appearance of clinical signs suggestive of toxic interaction, the mortality rate, body mass gain, feed consumption and drinking water intake, and changes in AST and LDH activities of the blood plasma. The monensin-duokvin combination (12.5 mg monensin/kg of feed + 120 mg duokvin/kg of feed) was found to be compatible with erythromycin, sulfaquinoxaline, sulfachlorpyrazine, flumequine, tylosin and kitasamycin. For tiamulin, a slight incompatibility was observed; however, this was much less severe than that found for monensin administered at a dose of 100 mg/kg of feed. The maduramicin-duokvin combination (3.0 mg maduramicin/kg of feed + 120 mg duokvin/kg of feed) was compatible with all the compounds tested; thus, it can be safely applied also in combination with tiamulin.