Early View
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Pharmacokinetics of Levamisole After a Single 20 mg/kg Intravenous, Intramuscular, or Subcutaneous Dose in Chukar Partridges (Alectoris chukar)

Ruhi Turkmen

Ruhi Turkmen

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Afyon Kocatepe, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye

Search for more papers by this author
Orhan Corum

Corresponding Author

Orhan Corum

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Hatay Mustafa Kemal, Hatay, Türkiye

Correspondence:

Orhan Corum ([email protected])

Search for more papers by this author
Mario Gıorgı

Mario Gıorgı

Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Search for more papers by this author
Duygu Durna Corum

Duygu Durna Corum

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Hatay Mustafa Kemal, Hatay, Türkiye

Search for more papers by this author
Orkun Atık

Orkun Atık

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Afyon Kocatepe, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye

Search for more papers by this author
Erdinc Turk

Erdinc Turk

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Hatay Mustafa Kemal, Hatay, Türkiye

Search for more papers by this author
Yavuz Osman Bırdane

Yavuz Osman Bırdane

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Afyon Kocatepe, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye

Search for more papers by this author
Kamil Uney

Kamil Uney

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Selcuk, Konya, Türkiye

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 15 July 2025

Funding: This work was supported by The Coordination of Scientific Research Projects, University of Selcuk, Türkiye, 20301012.

ABSTRACT

The pharmacokinetic features of levamisole were assessed in chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar) following intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM), and subcutaneous (SC) administrations. The investigation included nine male partridges and a crossover pharmacokinetic design. Levamisole was administered to partridges at a dose of 20 mg/kg via IV, IM, and SC routes. Blood samples were collected at time points of 0, 0.25, 0.50, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, and 24 h after administrations. Plasma concentrations of levamisole were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and evaluated using a non-compartmental analysis. The elimination half-life was 1.92, 2.94, and 2.97 h for IV, IM, and SC administration, respectively. The IV injection for levamisole showed the volume of distribution at a steady state of 1.91 L/kg and total clearance of 0.73 L/h/kg. The peak plasma concentration (Cmax) for IM and SC routes of levamisole was 5.32 and 4.65 μg/mL at 0.25 h, respectively. The absolute bioavailability was 66.16% for the IM route and 58.48% for the SC route. The study findings reveal that levamisole administered via IM and SC routes exhibit comparable pharmacokinetic profiles, with both routes achieving bioavailability exceeding 50%. However, the significant adverse effects (muscle tremors, hyperexcitability, and increased respiratory rate) associated with IV administration underscore the need for caution and support the preference for IM and SC routes, which offer better safety profiles for bird anthelmintic treatments.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.