Abstract
Objective—To determine pharmacokinetics and excretion of phenytoin in horses.
Animals—6 adult horses.
Procedure—Using a crossover design, phenytoin was administered (8.8 mg/kg of body weight, IV and PO) to 6 horses to determine bioavailability (F). Phenytoin also was administered orally twice daily for 5 days to those same 6 horses to determine steadystate concentrations and excretion patterns. Blood and urine samples were collected for analysis.
Results—Mean (± SD) elimination half-life following a single IV or PO administration was 12.6 ± 2.8 and 13.9 ± 6.3 hours, respectively, and was 11.2 ± 4.0 hours following twice-daily administration for 5 days. Values for F ranged from 14.5 to 84.7%. Mean peak plasma concentration (Cmax) following single oral administration was 1.8 ± 0.68 µg/ml. Steady-state plasma concentrations following twice-daily administration for 5 days was 4.0 ± 1.8 µg/ml. Of the 12.0 ± 5.4% of the drug excreted during the 36-hour collection period, 0.78 ± 0.39% was the parent drug phenytoin, and 11.2 ± 5.3% was 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin (p-HPPH). Following twice-daily administration for 5 days, phenytoin was quantified in plasma and urine for up to 72 and 96 hours, respectively, and p-HPPH was quantified in urine for up to 144 hours after administration. This excretion pattern was not consistent in all horses.
Conclusion and Clinical Relevance—Variability in F, terminal elimination-phase half-life, and Cmax following single or multiple oral administration of phenytoin was considerable. This variability makes it difficult to predict plasma concentrations in horses after phenytoin administration. (Am J Vet Res 2001;62:483–489)
