Itraconazole
MiraVista Veterinary Diagnostics offers a bioassay to measure itraconazole blood levels. Itraconazole is one of the most effective oral antifungals used in veterinary medicine. Antifungal effects are due to parent drug (itraconazole) and active metabolites (hydroxy-itraconazole).
GI absorption, and thus blood levels, of itraconazole are highly variable from animal-to-animal. Drug adverse effects such as hepatotoxicity, skin lesions due to vasculitis, and GI signs (vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia) are related to toxic blood levels. Treatment failure is related to sub-therapeutic blood levels. Collectively, this supports individualized patient care with therapeutic drug monitoring.
The bioassay offered by MiraVista measures itraconazole blood levels based on the inhibition of fungal growth in the laboratory. A significant advantage of the bioassay is that it accounts for parent drug and all active metabolites. In addition, it is significantly less expensive than other methodologies- increasing treatment cost-efficiency.
