Pharmacokinetics of melamine in pigs following intravenous administration

Melamine-contaminated pet food was recently added as a supplement to livestock feed. There is little or no information concerning the pharmacokinetics of melamine in livestock, and the aim of this study was to obtain pharmacokinetic parameters for this contaminant in pigs. Melamine was administered intravenously to five weanling pigs at a dose of 6.13 mg/kg and plasma samples were collected over 24 h, extracted for melamine, and then analyzed by HPLC–UV. The data was shown to best fit a one-compartment model with melamine’s half-life of 4.04 (±0.37) h, clearance of 0.11 (±0.01) L/h/kg, and volume of distribution of 0.61 (±0.04) L/kg. These data are comparable to the only mammalian study in rats and suggests that melamine is readily cleared by the kidney and there is unlikely to be significant tissue binding. Further tissue residue studies are required to assess the depletion kinetics of this contaminant in the pig which will determine whether residue levels in the kidney should be of public health concern if pigs were exposed to a similar dose.