Multidetection of antibiotics in piglet liver by ultra-high-pressure-liquid-chromatography tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Antibiotics may be administered in food-producing animals for therapeutic and prophylactic purpose. The use of antibiotics as growth promoters in food-producing animals can also be considered, although fraudulent in Europe because it can lead to residues of these compounds in edible matrices. [1] The persistent consumption of animal foods containing antibiotic residues can cause to direct toxic effects, such as allergic reactions in some hypersensitive individuals, or indirect effects, such as appearance of bacterial strains resistant to the drugs used in veterinary medicine, becoming a worldwide concern. [2] Therefore, it is of extreme importance for public health, as well as consumer food safety, to monitor possible antibiotics that can be found in animals for food consumption, in particular piglets since it produces a highly consumed meat in Portugal. The presence of residues in products of animal origin is a matter of public health concern. Therefore, the European Commission has determined the need for the compulsory control of veterinary medicinal products in food of animal origin, which is designated as a veterinary medicinal product for human consumption. Consequently, maximum residue limits (MRLs) have been established in foodstuffs of animal origin according to Regulation (EU) No. 37/2010 [3]. In this study, 21 piglet livers sample were analyzed using an ultra-hight-pressure-liquid- chromatography-tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ToF-MS) to detect the presence of 45 antibiotics from 7 different families such as tetracyclines, sulphonamides, quinolones, penicillin’s, macrolides, cephalosporins and trimethoprim. Antibiotic residues were determined to be around 47% in the twenty-one samples analyzed. Ten of the samples did not contain any type of antibiotic, seven samples contained one antibiotic and four samples contained two antibiotics. The antibiotics detected in the examined samples were enrofloxacin, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin and oxolinic acid. All these antibiotics were found in minimal concentrations, not exceeding the MRL.