Fab fragments of ovine antibody to colchicine enhance its clearance in the rat

Abstract

Context. Colchicine is an anti-inflammatory alkaloid used for the treatment of acute gout, but has a narrow therapeutic index. Colchicine overdoses are relatively rare, but have high mortality requiring rapid treatment. Objective. To evaluate the ability of a newly available ovine fragment antigen-binding (Fab) antibody to colchicine (ColchiFab™) to protect rats against renal and other injury 24 h after colchicine ingestion. Materials and methods. Rats were gavaged with colchicine (5 mg/kg), then 2 h later injected intraperitoneally with 5 ml of sterile saline, or Fab anti-colchicine, a newly available ovine antibody to colchicine. Samples of blood were taken at 1, 2, 5 and 24 h after gavage..