The development of three generic multi-compartment physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models is described for farm animal species, i.e. cattle, sheep, and swine. The PBK models allow one to quantitatively link external dose and internal dose for risk assessment of chemicals relevant to food and feed safety. Model performance is illustrated by predicting tissue concentrations of melamine and oxytetracycline and validated through comparison with measured data. Overall, model predictions were reliable with 71% of predictions within a 3-fold of the measured data for all three species and only 6% of predictions were outside a 10-fold of the measured data. Predictions within a 3-fold change were best for cattle, followed by sheep, and swine (82%, 76%, and 63%). Global sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the most sensitive parameters in the PBK model. The sensitivity analysis showed that body weight and cardiac output were the most sensitive parameters. Since interspecies differences in metabolism impact on the fate of a wide range of chemicals, a key step forward is the introduction of species-specific information on transporters and metabolism including expression and activities.
Keywords: Farm animal species; Global sensitivity analysis; Melamine; Oxytetracycline; Physiologically based kinetic model.
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