Albanian j. agric. sci. 2014; (Special edition) Agricultural University of Tirana RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access) Screening of quinolone antibiotic residues in beef sold in Kosovo HAMDI ALIU 1 *, KAPLLAN SULAJ 2 1 Veterinary Doctor in Podujevo Region, Kosovo, 2 Faculty of Biotechnology and Food, Agricultural University of Tirana, Kamëz, Tirana *Corresponding author e-mail: hamdialiu@yahoo.com Abstract This study aimed to find the effects of quinolone antibiotics in beef used in three regions of Kosovo. Total numbers of 89 beef meat samples were collected randomly from local meat shops for analysis. Extraction and determination of quinolones were made by ELISA procedure. Among the beef samples, 14 (15.7%) of beef meat samples were positive for quinolones. The mean levels (±SE) of quinolones were found to be in average of 28.22 ± 1.11 μg/kg in samples respectively for enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and flumequin. This study indicated that some beef meat sold in Kosovo contains residues of quinolone antibiotics. From the evaluation of tested samples is found positive the presence of enrofloxacin in 6 (6.7%) beef meat samples and respectively for ciprofloxacin and fumequin in 3 (3, 35%) and in 5(5, 6%) beef meat samples. Study results confirmed quinolone residues in beef sold in Kosovo as constitute and serious risk for public health. Use of quinolones in treatment of cattle diseases in Kosovo remain an effective method of diseases control but are considered a common way of residues in beef produced and sold in Kosovo. Key words: residue, quinolone, beef, meat, cattle, Kosovo. 1. Introduction Fluoroquinolones are antibiotics used in both medical and veterinary applications. Use of these antibiotics in production of animal products generated f the presence of these residues in food increasing microbial resistance in humans [3, 4, 14, 17]. On this contex, efficient methods are needed for the analysis of a variety of fluoroquinolone residues in meat and other animal products. Fluoroquinolones are well absorbed after oral administration and having a long elimination half-life and widespread distribution throughout the animal body cousing diffrent changes in biochemical pathways[6, 9]. There are also geographical differences in the proportion of resistance to antimicrobials, including fluoroquinolones, among common human pathogens [1, 7, 9]. As is reported by many studies fluoroquinolone resistance is increasing among major nosocomial pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria [1. 7]. The resistance is also an increasing problem for enteric zoonotic agents (Salmonella, Campylobacter) and for those infections, the link to veterinary use of fuoroquinolones [7, 12]. Fluoroquinolones inhibit the activity of the DNA gyrase and in most bacterial species resistance is caused due to mutations in the gyrase or topoisomerase genes [12, 15, 16]. Resistance to quinolones in Enterobacteriaceae is most commonly casued by mutations in two steps. Firstly, mutation in the gyrA gene is responsible for fullresistance of first generation quinolones such as nalidixic acid and flumequin [12]. Secondaly, mutation in either gyrA or gyrB genes mediates ‘fullresistance’ to fluoroquinolones [5, 11, 16]. For fluoroquinolones authors reported that giving enrofloxacin to poultry would select for fluoroquinolones resistance in Campylobacter. Similarly, others researchers found that administration of 50 ppm enrofloxacin in drinking water led to the immediate emergence of fluoroquinolone resistant Campylobacter jejuni isolates [3, 4]. As a consequence, residual amounts of quinolones remain in the different tissues of medicated animals and increase the risk of adverse effects or antibiotic resistance on people consuming them. 2. Materials and method Meat samples were collected from slaughtered animals in three regions of Kosovo as following: 541 brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Directory of Open Access Journals