Abstract
Australasia is home to unique and endangered avian species.Drugadministration to this group of animal patients for prophylaxis andtreatment is challenging from a number of different perspectives.A key limitation for optimal drug dosing in birds is the lack of publishedpharmacokinetic studies to guide dose requirements. The aim of thisreview was to systematically investigate published literature on pharmacokineticsin penguin species and compare that with the pharmacokinetics of otheravian species with a focus on two drugs: enrofloxacin and voriconazole.The review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. A systematicliterature search was performed in Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, and Webof Science databases. A key finding is that penguin pharmacokineticsdiffers from other avian species, with weight-adjusted AUC and C (max) values higher than most other avian species(e.g., for enrofloxacin, the AUC in the African penguin is 85.7 & mu;gh/mL, which is more than double the other bird species). Doses forsome avian species may be successfully extrapolated from other avianspecies; however, it appears important to consider factors other thanjust body weight (e.g., clearance mechanism and drug physicochemicalcharacteristics). Consequently, there is an important need for robustpharmacokinetic data in wildlife species to ensure optimal therapyfor this special group of patients. As part of this review, we identifykey aspects that should be considered when estimating dose in speciesfor which there is limited pharmacokinetic information available.