Research Note: Study on the residue depletion of febrifugine and isofebrifugine in broiler chicken

In this study, 105 broiler chickens were fed with dietary feeds containing different contents of Dichroae Radix extract for 10 consecutive days. Then the residue depletions of its main alkaloids (febrifugine and isofebrifugine) in muscle, kidney and liver samples at different withdrawal times were determined by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography method. Results showed that the 2 alkaloids were mainly at tis-sue-bound formation. At withdrawal period of 0 d, their concentrations in all samples were high but decreased rapidly after 1 day of cessation (35-91%). After 5 to 7 days of cessation, their residues in muscle and kidney were not detectable, and after at least 10 days of cessa-tion they were not detectable in liver. These results indi-cated that an appropriate withdrawal time for Dichroae Radix preparation was required if it is licensed as a new drug, and the best target tissue for monitoring its resi-due was liver.