Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
6
ULTRAHIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID
CHROMATOGRAPHY COUPLED WITH HIGH-
RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY: A RELIABLE
TOOL FOR ANALYSIS OF VETERINARY DRUGS IN FOOD
MARÍA DEL MAR AGUILERA-LUIZ, ROBERTO ROMERO-GONZÁLEZ,
PATRICIA PLAZA-BOLAÑOS, JOSÉ LUIS MARTÍNEZ VIDAL, and
ANTONIA GARRIDO FRENICH
6.1
INTRODUCTION
A wide variety of veterinary drugs (VDs) or veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) as
they are referred to
are commonly used in livestock
production for prevention (prophylaxis) and treatment of several types of pathologies
of food-producing animals. Since the United States Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA) approved their use as growth promoters in the 1950s, they have been
administered to animals through feed at subtherapeutic doses or via drinking water,
increasing food production and avoiding illnesses and infections. In the 1990s and at
the beginning of 2000s, it was estimated that at least 70% [1] of food-producing
animals were exposed to antimicrobials and 11,800 tonnes of antibiotics were
administered to animals every year. Only 908 tonnes were used to treat active
infections, whereas the rest was used to prevent infections or to promote growth [2].
Today, this
—
particularly in the EU
—
figure may be higher due to current intense animal husbandry practices [3].
The average consumption in nine European countries (period 2005
-
2009) is higher
than 2400 tonnes of active ingredient [4].
However, the widespread administration of VDs, and their uncontrolled or
incorrect use (i.e., attention to withdrawal time) in some regions, entailed a risk to
human health due to the possibility of introducing harmful residues into the food
chain. The main concern regarding the ingestion of food-containing residues with
antimicrobial activity relies on the fact that they might provoke allergies and gastric
intestinal disturbances and potentially contribute to the development of resistant
bacterial strains [5], although there is no robust evidence to support this last
possibility. Therefore, the presence of VD residues, as well as metabolites and/or
conjugates in animal food products, may have direct or indirect toxic effects on
