The Apparent pH Stability of Antibiotic Preparations Used for Uterine Infusions in Mares.

Infectious endometritis is a primary cause of subfertility in mares. Many manuals and guidelines are available for administering intrauterine infusions of antibiotics and biofilm-disrupting solutions, detailing concentrations, vehicle solutions, and buffers. However, the stability of these combinations has not been documented. Therefore, our study investigated how factors such as storage temperature, concentration, buffer types, combinations of biofilm disruptors, and vehicle solutions affected pH stability over 24 h in uterine infusion preparations commonly used by veterinary theriogenologists to treat endometritis in mares. In experiment 1, amikacin, ampicillin, ceftiofur, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, penicillin G potassium, penicillin G procaine, and ticarcillin clavulanate were diluted in saline and lactated Ringer' s solution and stored at 5 ° C, 21 ° C, and 37 ° C for 24 h. Solutions were evaluated for pH and physical characteristics at 0, 1, 3, 6, and 24 h after storage. In experiment 2, 1- and 2-g doses of amikacin, ampicillin, and gentamicin were compared, evaluating the same volume at different concentrations and their stability over 24 h. Experiment 3 combined biofilm chelators (i.e., Tris-EDTA, hydrogen peroxide, and dimethyl sulfoxide) with antibiotic solutions and evaluated interactions among products. Experiment 4 compared the stability of each antibiotic diluted in saline and lactated Ringer' s solution. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 9.3.0. Significance was set at