ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology
Non-linear pharmacokinetics of penciclovir in healthy cats after single and multiple oral administration of famciclovir
Provisionally accepted
- 1Key Laboratory of Drug-Targeting and Drug Delivery System of the Education Ministry, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 2Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceuticals Group Co Ltd, Chengdu, China
- 3Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 4Med-X Center for Materials, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chengdu, China
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Feline Infectious Rhinobronchitis (FVR) is a common and serious infectious upper respiratory disease. Famciclovir, an antiviral prodrug initially developed for human herpesviruses, demonstrates significant therapeutic efficacy in cats with FVR caused by feline herpesvirus-1. To determine the pharmacokinetics of famciclovir in healthy cats after single or multiple oral and intravenous administration, 40 cats in 4 dose groups received famciclovir single oral administration and 10 cats received famciclovir every 12 hours for 14 days. 10 cats received a single intravenous administration consisting of penciclovir. At the predetermined time points, blood samples were collected through the radial vein of the cat. The blood samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to detect the concentration of penciclovir in cat plasma. The pharmacokinetic parameters of penciclovir were calculated using a non-compartmental model. After a single oral administration in cats, the absorption and exposure of famciclovir tablets also increased with the increase of dose. After multiple oral administrations of famciclovir tablets, the concentration of the drug fluctuated violently in steady state with no accumulation in the body. The absolute bioavailability of the tested cats after single oral administration of 15.625 mg/kg, 31.25 mg/kg, 62.5 mg/kg, and 93.75 mg/kg famciclovir tablets was 67.06%, 33.94%, 26.43%, and 18.36%. In summary, after oral administration in cats, the absorption and exposure of famciclovir tablets showed overall nonlinear pharmacokinetic characteristics. This study provides a scientific basis for the clinical dosage and duration of treatment of FVR with famciclovir tablets.
Keywords: Famciclovir, oral administration, feline, pharmacokinetics, Absolute bioavailability
Received: 30 Aug 2025; Accepted: 07 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qu, Ke, Zhang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ling Zhang, zhangling83@scu.edu.cn
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