Oxytetracycline-induced nephrotoxicosis in dogs after intravenous administration for experimental bone labeling

Tetracyclines have been used as in vivo indicators of new bone formation because they form complexes with mineral at bone-forming surfaces. Four of 12 dogs in a bone-labeling study developed clinical signs of renal disease (vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and azotemia) within 1 to 2 days of receiving oxytetracycline at a bone-labeling dose of 25 mg/kg of body weight, once daily for 2 consecutive days. To delineate the relationship between oxytetracycline administration and renal damage, six dogs were given the bone-labeling dose intravenously and were subsequently evaluated by determination of clinical signs, serum biochemical analysis, urinalysis, and histologic examination (experiment 1). Drug administration was modified in the five dogs remaining in the bone-labeling orthopedic study. These dogs received the oxytetracycline dose as a slow intravenous infusion diluted with 250 ml of lactated Ringer's solution (experiment 2). All six dogs of experiment 1 developed persistent isosthenuria within 2 days of receiving the bone-labeling dose of oxytetracycline. Clinical illness (three of six dogs) was associated with azotemia, creatinemia, and hyperphosphatemia. All dogs had multifocal, mild to moderate flattening of renal tubular epithelium, characteristic of nephrosis. None of the dogs of experiment 2 developed any clinical indications of renal disease, and the only biochemical abnormality was isosthenuria in two of the five dogs. Thus the development of clinical signs and biochemical abnormalities associated with the intravenous administration of oxytetracycline was obviated by the slow administration of a dilution of the calculated bone-labeling dose of the antibiotic.