Pharmacokinetics of domoic acid following intravenous administration in rats

In 1987 acute poisoning followed consumption of shellfish contaminated with domoic acid (DOM). The primary objectives of this study were: (a) to develop an assay for the detection of DOM in rat serum, and (b) to examine the pharmacokinetics of DOM following intravenous and oral administration in rats.

An extraction method was developed and coupled to an analytical procedure using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Final chromatographic conditions used a C-18 reversed phase column, a mobile phase consisting of 10.5% acetonitrile and 89.5% distilled water (v/v) delivered at 1.0 mL/minute, and UV detection at 242 nm.

This method was used to study the kinetics of DOM extracted from contaminated mussels following intravenous administration in Long-Evans rats. Over the 80 minute sampling period, DOM was eliminated.

Following intravenous administration in rats, DOM distributes minimally to other tissues and is rapidly eliminated. Following oral administration of DOM in both rats and guinea pigs no detectable serum levels of DOM were found, indicating that less than 5% is available to the systemic circulation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).