The purpose of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of meloxicam following repeated intravenous injection in sheep. Five male merino sheep were used in the study. Meloxicam was administered intravenously to sheep at 0.5 mg/kg once daily for 5 days. Meloxicam analysis from plasma samples was performed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Non-compartmental analysis was used to establish the pharmacokinetic parameters. Following the first dose of meloxicam, the values for the plasma concentration at the first sampling time (C0.08), area under the plasma concentration-time (AUC0-24), elimination half-life (t1/2ʎz), total body clearance (ClT), and volume of distribution at steady state (Vdss), were 2.53 µg/mL, 12.30 hour*µg/mL, 8.97 hour, 0.03 L/hour/kg, and 0.40 L/kg, respectively. Compared to the first dose, AUC0-24 and C0.08 increased, ClT and Vdss decreased after the last dose administration. Following the first and final administration, the t1/2ʎz values were similar. The accumulation levels of R1 and R2 were 2.48 and 2.81, respectively. In conclusion, repeated administration of meloxicam in sheep caused pharmacokinetic changes and accumulation. Therefore, the safety and therapeutic effect of meloxicam after repeated administration in sheep should be established.
Corum et al. (Sat,) studied this question.