Assessment of thirteen-week subchronic oral toxicity of cyadox in Beagle dogs

Cyadox (2-formylquinoxaline-N1,N4-dioxide cyanocetylhydrazone) is a new antimicrobial agent and growth-promoter to be used in food-producing animals. Although its toxicity has been clearly documented in rodents, no study is available in non-rodent animals. Therefore, we studied the subchronic effects of cyadox in Beagle dogs to provide additional information with which to establish safety criteria for human exposure. For this purpose, 36 Beagle dogs, 18 males and 18 females, were divided into four groups and fed diets containing 0, 100, 450 and 2500 mg/kg of cyadox, respectively, for 13 weeks. It was found that there were no significant changes among the examined parameters, except for an increase in the level of serum potassium (K+) in 2500 mg/kg cyadox group in males at week 13 of the study. However, the K+ level returned to normal during the recovery period. In conclusion, cyadox showed slight effects in Beagle dogs in the subchronic oral toxicity study. The no-observed-adverse-effect level of cyadox was considered to be 450 mg/kg diet, which equates to approximately 15.3–15.4 mg/kg b.w./day. The study provided subchronic effects of cyadox in Beagle dogs, suggesting that cyadox might present mild toxicity in non-rodents.