Flavobacterium columnare and F. psychrophilum are major fish pathogens that cause diseases that may require antimicrobial therapy. Choice of appropriate treatment is dependent upon determining the antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates. Therefore we optimized methods for broth microdilution testing of F. columnare and F. psychrophilum to facilitate standardizing an antimicrobial susceptibility test. We developed adaptations to make reproducible broth inoculums and confirmed the proper incubation time and media composition. We tested the stability of potential quality-control bacteria and compared test results between different operators. Log phase occurred at 48 h for F. columnare and 72-96 h for F. psychrophilum, confirming the test should be incubated at 28°C for approximately 48 h and at 18°C for approximately 96 h, respectively. The most consistent susceptibility results were achieved with plain, 4-g/L, dilute Mueller-Hinton broth supplemented with dilute calcium and magnesium. Supplementing the broth with horse serum did not improve growth. The quality-control strains, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida ATCC 33658, yielded stable minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against all seven antimicrobials tested after 30 passes at 28°C and 15 passes at 18°C. In comparison tests, most MICs of the isolates agreed 100% within one drug dilution for ampicillin, florfenicol, and oxytetracycline. The agreement was lower with the ormetoprim-sulfdimethoxine combination, but there was at least 75% agreement for all but one isolate. These experiments have provided methods to help standardize antimicrobial susceptibility testing of these nutritionally fastidious aquatic bacteria. Received June 24, 2015; accepted October 2, 2015.

A risk assessment conducted in 2007 identified significant knowledge gaps about tissue residues of melamine and related triazine analogs such as cyanuric acid in animals that had eaten contaminated food. The USFDA subsequently designed studies to determine residue levels in muscle, serum, and kidneys of catfish and trout given a single gavage dose of 20 mg/kg body weight (BW) of melamine, cyanuric acid, or 20 mg/kg BW of both compounds simultaneously. Renal triazines were determined by LC-MS/MS at postdose days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 (and day 42 for trout). When dosed individually, melamine and cyanuric acid kidney residues depleted much faster than those in fish given both compounds together. Combined dose residue depletion was punctuated by extreme outliers due to the formation of persistent renal melamine cyanurate crystals.

Melamine and its triazine analogs, such as cyanuric acid, have been used to artificially inflate protein content both in animal feed ingredients, as well as in milk products produced for human consumption. We report here a LC-MS/MS method to quantify and confirm melamine and cyanuric acid in serum from channel catfish and rainbow trout with a limit of quantification of 0.8 μg/mL. The method was applied to serum samples from a residue depletion study in which fish were given a single oral dose of 20 mg/kg body weight melamine, cyanuric acid, or both compounds together. Samples were taken at 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days (an additional 42 day was added for trout). When given alone or in combination with cyanuric acid, melamine residues were highest on day 1 in both catfish and trout. Cyanuric acid was only quantifiable at day 1 in trout when given alone, and not at all in catfish. The serum half life of melamine in catfish was 1.50-1.62 days and 3.09-3.67 days in trout. This work highlights the differences of depletion kinetics in fish, which can be measured in days, as compared to the depletion in mammals, measured in hours.

A multi-laboratory broth microdilution method trial was performed to standardize the specialized test conditions required for the fish pathogens Flavobacterium columnare and F. psychrophilum. Nine laboratories tested the quality control (QC) strains Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida ATCC 33658 against 10 antimicrobials (ampicillin, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, florfenicol, flumequine, gentamicin, ormetoprim/sulfadimethoxine, oxolinic acid, oxytetracycline, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) in diluted (4 g l-1) cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth incubated at 28 and 18°C for 44-48 and 92-96 h, respectively. QC ranges were set for 9 of the 10 antimicrobials. Most of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) distributions (16 of 18, 9 drugs at both temperatures) for A. salmonicida ATCC 33658 were centered on a single median MIC ± 1 two-fold drug dilution resulting in a QC range that spanned 3 dilutions. More of the E. coli ATCC 25922 MIC distributions (7 of 16) were centered between 2 MIC dilutions requiring a QC range that spanned 4 dilutions. A QC range could not be determined for E. coli ATCC 25922 against 2 antimicrobials at the low temperature. These data and their associated QC ranges have been approved by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and will be included in the next edition of the CLSI M49-A Guideline. This method represents the first standardized reference method for testing fish pathogenic Flavobacterium spp.

Ingesting melamine adulterated milk products led to kidney stones in many infants in 2008. This differs from the renal failure caused by intratubular crystal formation after co-ingestion of melamine (MEL) and cyanuric acid (CYA) in adulterated pet foods in 2007. To better understand the potential risk of developing crystal nephropathy following co-ingestion of MEL and CYA, we fed 16 weanling pigs 0, 1, 3.3, 10, 33, or 100 mg/kg bw/day of each MEL and CYA, or 200 mg/kg bw/day of either compound individually for 7 days. Crystals were found in the renal medulla and cortex and urine sediments of all pigs fed both MEL and CYA each at 10 mg/kg bw/day (or greater). Crystals were also found in one of the two pigs fed 200 mg/kg bw/day MEL-only. In a 28 day study, 36 weanling pigs were fed 0, 1, or 3.3 mg/kg bw/day of MEL and CYA or 200 mg/kg bw/day MEL-only. Only one of the 3.3 mg/kg MEL and CYA pig kidneys contained crystals. The no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for pigs fed MEL and CYA for 28 days was concluded to be 1.0 mg/kg bw/day corresponding to 25 mg/kg (ppm) MEL and 25 mg/kg (ppm) CYA in dry feed.

In this study, catfish muscle was analyzed for melamine (MEL) and cyanuric acid (CYA) residues following experimental feeding with low doses of MEL and MEL and CYA (MEL+CYA) and with the insoluble melamine-cyanurate complex (MEL=CYA). Catfish were daily fed 0.1 mg/kg BW of MEL for 15, 28, or 42 days, 0.1 mg/kg BW of MEL+CYA for 28 days, 2.5 mg/kg BW of MEL+CYA for 14 days, or 400 mg/kg BW of MEL=CYA for 3 days. Residues in the tissue were determined by LC-MS/MS. MEL was extracted with acidic acetonitrile, followed by defatting with dichloromethane, and isolated with cation exchange solid phase extraction (SPE). For CYA analysis, fish were extracted with dilute acetic acid, defatted with hexane, and cleaned up with a graphitic carbon SPE. Catfish fed 0.1 mg/kg BW of MEL reached a maximum muscle residue concentration of 0.33 ± 0.04 mg/kg (ppm) after 28 days of continuous feeding. The same concentration was found for MEL+CYA feeding at the 0.1 mg/kg BW level for 28 days. Feeding at 2.5 mg/kg BW of MEL+CYA yielded muscle concentrations above the 2.5 mg/kg level of concern for most of the study fish. Finally, catfish fed high levels of the MEL=CYA complex (400 mg/kg BW) accumulated relatively little MEL in the muscle (0.14 ± 0.07 mg/kg) and, unlike treatment with MEL+CYA, did not form renal melamine-cyanurate crystals. Appreciable concentrations of CYA were not detected in any of the muscles tested. These studies provide data to model the bioaccumulation of triazine residues into edible fish tissue as a result of the continuous consumption of adulterated feed.

The intentional addition of triazines such as melamine to animal feeds and the lack of information about residue accumulation in food animals caused global concerns for food safety during 2007 and 2008. We report the results of a good laboratory practices (GLP) study to determine melamine and cyanuric acid residues in catfish and trout filets harvested at 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 42 days after a single oral dose of 20 mg/kg body weight of melamine, cyanuric acid, or melamine and cyanuric acid together. Peak melamine concentrations were 12.73 mg/kg (ppm) in catfish (mean = 9.98), 12.26 mg/kg in trout (mean = 7.89) on day 1. Within 7 days (catfish) or 14 days (trout) residues were <2.5 mg/kg, a level in foods accepted by many risk assessors worldwide to be unlikely to pose health risks to consumers. Peak cyanuric acid residues also occurred on day 1, 0.68 mg/kg in catfish (mean = 0.46), 2.59 mg/kg in trout (mean = 0.86). Cyanuric acid muscle residues were <2.5 mg/kg by day 3. The half-lives for melamine and cyanuric acid ranged between 1 and 4 days. Renal crystals formed in fish given both melamine and cyanuric acid, persisting for weeks after the single dose.

We evaluated renal melamine-cyanurate crystal spherulite formation after single and repeated ingestion of both melamine (MEL) and cyanuric acid (CYA) in catfish and trout. MEL and CYA were co-administered orally over a range of doses, 0.1-20mg/kg body weight (bw) of each compound, either once or repeatedly for 4, 14 or 28 days (d). In catfish, the No Observable Adverse Effects Levels (NOAELs) for crystal formation for single, 4d or 14 d dosing were 10, 2.5 and 0.5mg/kg bw, respectively. In trout, the respective NOAELs were 2.5, 2.5 and 0.5mg/kg bw. No renal crystals formed in catfish fed 0.1mg/kg bw of each compound for 28 d. Sequential administration of 20mg/kg bw of MEL followed by 20mg/kg bw of CYA or vise-versa, with waiting periods of 1, 3, 7, 14 or 21 d between compound dosing also induced renal crystal formation in fish. These studies show that both catfish and trout are sensitive, non-mammalian models, for renal crystal formation following MEL and CYA ingestion. Since fish generally excrete chemicals more slowly than mammals, they may provide a "worst case scenario" model for higher risk populations, such as infants or persons with compromised renal function.

A polygeneration process is about to be implemented at the biomass gasification plant in Oberwart, Austria. Apart from conventional heat and electricity production, product gas obtained from steam gasification of wood chips is used for production of hydrogen. A membrane separation process was chosen for this application. Meeting the requirements of robustness and simplicity are benefits of this technology, however, maximizing of purity and output of hydrogen is not given highest priority. Simulation results show the gas compositions of both permeate and retentate stream as a function of different membrane stage-cuts. Basically high hydrogen content in the permeate stream can be achieved, but only with the drawback of low stage-cuts. Moreover, the trade-off between hydrogen purity and hydrogen recovery as well as the influence of the operating pressure on the purity are illustrated.