Abstract
Morphine could be detected in horses dosed with 0.1 mg of drug/kg of body weight for up to 48 hours in blood and 144 hours in urine. This dose of morphine elicited no observable effects and is a suggested analgesic dose. Computer analysis revealed that a 3-compartment open system was the best fitting model with a serum half life of 87.9 minutes and a urine half life of 101.1 minutes. Binding to equine serum proteins was linear over a drug concentration range of 3.88 x 10-5M to 3.50 x 10-aM and averaged 31.6%. In RBC-partitioning experiments, 78.1 % of the drug was found in the plasma fraction. The data indicated that a horse should not be given morphine closer than 1 week before a race.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1983
Funding Information
Supported by a grant from the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Fund.
Repository Citation
Combie, Joan; Nugent, Thomas E.; and Tobin, Thomas, "Pharmacokinetics and protein binding of morphine in horses" (1983). Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center Faculty Publications. 92.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gerc_facpub/92
Included in
Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons, Veterinary Toxicology and Pharmacology Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published as Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station article No. 81-4-255, College of Agriculture and Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, with approval of the Dean and Director. Published as publication No. 76 from the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Program and Graduate Center for Toxicology, University of Kentucky.