Improved pharmacotherapy after revised dosing regimens of two slow-release formulations of benzylpenicillin in an Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection model in pigs

Table 1 Dosing regimens for two benzylpenicillin formulations used to evaluate treatment efficacy

Trial	Group name	Medicinal product	Loading dose (mg/kg)	Maintenance dose (mg/kg)	Dosing interval	Treatment duration (days)
1	ETH20-2 × 3	Ethacilin vet	–	20	Every 12 h	3
1	ETH20-1 × 3	Ethacilin vet	–	20	Every 24 h	3
1	ETH30-1 × 3	Ethacilin vet	–	30	Every 24 h	3
1	UPA30-1 × 3	Ultrapen vet	–	30	Every 24 h	3
2	ETH30-2 × 5	Ethacilin vet	–	30	Every 12 h	5
2	UPA30-1 × 5	Ultrapen vet	–	30	Every 24 h	5
2	UPA30-1 × 3	Ultrapen vet	–	30	Every 24 h	3
2	UPA60 + UPA30-1 × 2	Ultrapen vet	60	30	Every 24 h	3
2	ETH30 + UPA30-1 × 3	Ethacilin vet/ Ultrapen vet	30¹	30	Every 24 h	3.5

¹Ethacilin vet 30 mg/kg was administered twelve hours before the first Ultrapen vet administration
Pigs were before treatment inoculated intranasally with an Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) serotype 2 strain. The two formulations used were: Ethacilin vet (ETH) (Intervet AB, Sollentuna, Sweden) containing 300 mg/ml procaine benzylpenicillin in an aqueous suspension, and Ultrapen vet (UPA) (N-vet, Uppsala, Sweden), containing 300 mg/ml procaine benzylpenicillin in an oily suspension. The treatment group nomenclature is: the medicinal product; dose in mg/kg; dose frequency (once or twice daily) and treatment duration in days. For example, ETH20-2 × 3 should read as: procaine benzylpenicillin in a water suspension 20 mg/kg bodyweight twice daily for three days

ISSN: 1751-0147