Abstract
Lipid spray beads (LSB) were evaluated for delivery of the low‐molecular weight, water‐soluble antibiotic, oxytetracycline·HCl (OTC) to fish larvae. Various OTC core‐to‐lipid ratios and OTC core concentrations were evaluated to maximize OTC delivery efficiency by LSB. Acceptability and digestion of LSB containing OTC and riboflavin by larval zebrafish, Danio rerio (Hamilton), and larval gobies, Asterropteryx semipunctata Rüppell, were also evaluated. Increasing LSB core‐to‐lipid ratios from 1:3 to 1:1 v/v resulted in an increase in encapsulation efficiency (EE) from 2.33 to 3.68% w/w. Increasing OTC concentrations of core solutions from 0.1 to 0.5 g OTC mL −1 increased EE from 3.95 to 18.77% w/w, respectively. Although retention efficiency (RE) was unaffected by this increase, delivery efficiency was increased to 7.9 ± 0.7% w/w, after correcting for leakage losses because of the suspension of beads in water for 60 min. Consumption of LSB containing OTC by first‐feeding zebrafish and goby larvae was confirmed by analysis of feeding incidence and gut fullness. Visual observations of larvae fed on LSB containing riboflavin indicated that larvae of both species digested LSB. Zebrafish larvae fed on OTC LSB contained 39.3 ± 2.5 ng OTC after purging LSB from their guts. Use of LSB provides an effective means of delivering therapeutics to fish larvae and could greatly reduce required doses compared with current methods of immersing larvae in solutions of therapeutic agents.