Ludovic's main research interests is pharmacology of analgesics, in particular NSAIDs and other drugs in species of veterinary interest (cats, dogs, horses, calves but also more exotic species such as emus or salamanders). He is developing research programs in pharmacology and pain management (acute and chronic), particularly in the area of pharmacokinetics and mathematical modeling (PK-PD).

Ludovic is promoting the use of pharmacometrics to help resolve clinical questions at the level of the invidual animal or for more global questions, as in the field of antimicrobial use and resistance. Ludovic is in the steering committee of VetCAST, the veterinary section of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST).  Ludovic is the leader of the workpackage on Antimicrobials in the One Health Poultry Hub (onehealthpoultry.org). He is involved in European Consortiums, like the JPIAMR SulTAn (Optimized dosing regimens for the combinations of sulfonamides and trimethoprim in veterinary medicine) with colleagues fron Toulouse, Uppsala and Ghent Universities and ANSES.

 

Ludovic collaborates in his research with colleagues from the RVC (Peter Lees, Jonathan Elliott, Holger Volk, Siobhan Abeyesinghe and others) and has established solid research or business relationships with external companies as detlaDOT Ltd).

Ludovic is striving to expand the RVC analytical laboratory to support veterinary a therapeutic drug monitoring service and drug development schemes in collaboration with deltaDOT Ltd. A iohexol test is already avaialble to monitor glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in dogs and cats.

Current PhD students:

Ms Sophie Hedges: Quantifying the use and impact of antimicrobial drugs on chicken gut microbiome and the presence of resistance genes

 

Past PhD students:
Miss Hannah Kenward (co-supervisor: Jonathan Elliott and Karine Savary-Bataille, Zoetis):"Objectives measures of Nausea in the Dog". BBSRC CASE award.

Dr.  Sandra Sanchis Mora (co-supervisor Siobhan Abeyesinghe, Holger Volk and Transpharmation Ltd): "Multidisciplinary approach for improving diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous canine neuropathic pain". Click on the link below for further details:
http://www.rvc.ac.uk/Postgraduate/Research/PhD/PelligandMR2012.cfm

Dr. Andrew Mead (co-supervison Richard Stabler LSHTM, Pascal Richez): PK PD informed clinical breakpoint determination for colistin in chicken to limit emergence of resistance and improve One Health antimicrobial sustainability

Dr. Stefano Azzariti (co-supervision Ross Bond): Bridging the preclinical/clinical gap for optimisation of efficacy and avoidance of resistance for fluoroquinolones, application to canine pyoderma

 

Research publications: latest publications 2023-2024

 

Selected publications below

Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Modeling of Torasemide and Furosemide After Oral Repeated Administration in Healthy Dogs.
Pelligand L, Guillot E, Geneteau A, Guyonnet J, Magnier R, Elliott J, Peyrou M, Jacobs M.
Front Vet Sci. 2020 Apr 28;7:151. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00151.

Semi-Mechanistic Modeling of Florfenicol Time-Kill Curves and in silico Dose Fractionation for Calf Respiratory Pathogens. Pelligand L., Lees P., Sidhu P.K., Toutain P-L. Front. Microbiol., 11 June 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01237

VetCAST Method for Determination of the Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Cut-Off Values of a Long-Acting Formulation of Florfenicol to Support Clinical Breakpoints for Florfenicol Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing in Cattle. Toutain P.-L., Sidhu P.K., Lees P., Rassouli A., Pelligand L.  Front. Microbiol., 12 June 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01310

Relating neuromuscular control to functional anatomy of limb muscles in extant archosaurs. Cuff A.R., Daley M.A., Michel K.B., Allen V.R., Lamas L.P., Adami C., Monticelli P., Pelligand L., Hutchinson J.R. J Morphol. 2019 May;280(5):666-680. doi: 10.1002/jmor.20973. Epub 2019 Mar 8.

A double-blinded randomised dietary supplement crossover trial design to investigate the short-term influence of medium chain fatty acid (MCT) supplement on canine idiopathic epilepsy: study protocol. Berk B.A., Packer R.M.A., Law T.H., Wessmann A., Bathen-Nöthen A., Jokinen T.S., Knebel A., Tipold A., Pelligand L., Volk H.A., BMC Vet Res. 2019 May 30;15(1):181. doi: 10.1186/s12917-019-1915-8.

Sedative and antinociceptive effects of different detomidine constant rate infusions, with or without methadone in standing horses. Gozalo-Marcilla M., Luna S. P. L., Moreira da Silva R. , Crosignani N. , Lopes N. P., , Pelligand L., Taylor P. M.,  Equine Vet J. 2019 Jul;51(4):530-536. doi: 10.1111/evj.13054. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Characterisation of the in vivo interactions between detomidine and methadone in horses: Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling. Gozalo-Marcilla M., Luna S. P. L., Moreira da Silva R. , Crosignani N. , Lopes N. P., Taylor P. M., Pelligand L. . Equine Vet J. 2019 Jul;51(4):517-529.

Evaluation of the dynamic predictors of fluid responsiveness in dogs receiving goal-directed fluid therapy. Drozdzynska MJ, Chang YM, Stanzani G, Pelligand L. Vet Anaesth Analg. 2017 Jun 17

Anti-nausea effects and pharmacokinetics of ondansetron, maropitant and metoclopramide in a low-dose cisplatin model of nausea and vomiting in the dog: a blinded crossover study. Kenward H, Elliott J, Lee T, Pelligand L. BMC Vet Res. 2017 Aug 16;13(1):244.

Development and initial validation of a sensory threshold examination protocol (STEP) for phenotyping canine pain syndromes. Sanchis-Mora S, Chang YM, Abeyesinghe S, Fisher A, Volk HA, Pelligand L. Vet Anaesth Analg. 2017 May;44(3):600-614

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling after subcutaneous, intravenous and buccal administration of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine in conscious cats. Doodnaught GM, Monteiro BP, Benito J, Edge D, Beaudry F, Pelligand L, Steagall P. PLoS One. 2017 Apr 26;12(4):e0176443. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176443. eCollection 2017

Modeling of Large Pharmacokinetic Data Using Nonlinear Mixed-Effects: A Paradigm Shift in Veterinary Pharmacology. A Case Study With Robenacoxib in Cats. Pelligand L, Soubret A, King JN, Elliott J, Mochel JP. CPT Pharmacometrics Syst Pharmacol. 2016 Oct 22.

Veterinary Medicine Needs New Green Antimicrobial Drugs. Toutain PL, Ferran AA, Bousquet-Melou A, Pelligand L, Lees P. Front Microbiol. 2016 Aug 3;7:1196.

Effect of Cyclooxygenase(COX)-1 and COX-2 inhibition on furosemide-induced renal responses and isoform immunolocalization in the healthy cat kidney. Pelligand L, Suemanotham N, King JN, Seewald W, Syme H, Smith K, Lees P, Elliott J. BMC Vet Res. 2015 Dec 3;11:296

Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin in Dogs With Sepsis Undergoing Emergency Laparotomy: A Prospective Case-Control Study. Cortellini S, Pelligand L, Syme H, Chang YM, Adamantos S. J Vet Intern Med. 2015 Nov-Dec;29(6):1595-602. doi: 10.1111/jvim.13638. Epub 2015 Sep 29.

Differential pharmacokinetics and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling of robenacoxib and ketoprofen in a feline model of inflammation
Pelligand L., King J.N., Hormabazal V., Toutain P.L., Elliott J., Lees P:
JVPT, 2014 Mar 15. doi: 10.1111/jvp.12107.

Assessment of low-dose cisplatin as a model of nausea and emesis in beagle dogs, potential for repeated administration. Kenward H, Pelligand L, Elliott J. Exp Brain Res. 2014 May 4. [Epub ahead of print]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ludovic is teaching pharmacology to undergraduates for the BVSc2 courses.

 

 

Ludovic is joint-head of the RVC anaesthesia /analgesia service in the different hospitals (QMH, BSAH, Equine Referral Centre). He enjoys running the busy service, teaching students and anaesthesia residents and dealing with anaesthetic challenges.

 

International working group membership:

Member of the Therapeutic  Guidelines Group (TGG) of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA)

Invited member of the Comité Analyse et Maîtrise du Risque, Societe Francaise Anesthesie et Reanimation (SFAR)

Core founding member and the webmaster of the Animal Health Modelling and Simulation Society.   The objectives of this new society are explained in the following paper::    Mochel JP, Gabrielsson J, Collard W, Fink M, Gehring R, Laffont C, Liu Y, Martin-Jimenez T, Pelligand L, Steimer JL, Toutain PL, Whittem T, Riviere J.: Animal Health Modeling & Simulation Society: a new society promoting model-based approaches in veterinary pharmacology. J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2013 May 29. doi: 10.1111/jvp.12060. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 23713757

 

• Action project on Alternatives to Veterinary Antimicrobials (AVANT)

  

  Professor of Veterinary Bacteriology Luca Guardabassi is the coordinator of a large EU Innovation Action project on Alternatives to Veterinary Antimicrobials (AVANT) involving 8 industries, 5 universities and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe.

  AVANT is a multi-actor inter-sectorial project aimed at developing alternatives to antimicrobials for the management of bacterial infections in pigs, especially diarrhoea during the weaning period, as the major indication for antimicrobial use in livestock in Europe. 

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• Optimized dosing regimens for the combinations of sulphonamides and trimethoprim in veterinary medicine (SulTAn)

  

  To fill the gaps related to the pharmacokinetics of Trimethoprim and Sulphonamides, and to the pharmacodynamics (PD) of their interaction on veterinary pathogens across multiple animal species.

  This project will focus on the combination of different S with TMP in veterinary medicine and will aim at determining the needed adjustments or revisions to optimize TMPS dosage regimens in domestic animal species.

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• PK/PD informed clinical breakpoint determination for colistin in chicken to limit emergence of resistance and improve One Health antimicrobial sustainability

  

  This project aims to evaluate the impact of colistin use on antimicrobial resistance and rationalise dosing through a combination of in vivo pharmacokinetic (PK) dose studies, in vitro pharmacodynamic (PD) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and advanced in silico PK/PD modelling.

  To maintain colistin as an essential antimicrobial for both human and veterinary use, recent and reliable data regarding the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) at the clinical dose in poultry, and its impact on the potential selection of resistance is required to inform application and policy.

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• Quality of veterinary oral formulations of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid in World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) member countries

  

  The RVC team is researching the deficits of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (AMC) in tablet form, following more general concerns about substandard or falsified veterinary medicines being sold in some settings.

  The aim is to detect types and frequency of deficits in the quality of veterinary oral formulations of AMC and identify regional trends including differences between countries or between geographical areas within the same country.

  Lack of efficacy due to SF veterinary products may be life-threatening in the case of antimicrobials drugs or vaccines. Furthermore, SF antimicrobial products are likely to expose sick animals to sub therapeutic levels and contribute to treatment failure and antimicrobial resistance.

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• Temporal dynamic resistance of skin and gastrointestinal bacteria in canine pyoderma

  

  Temporal dynamic resistance of skin and gastrointestinal bacteria in canine pyoderma: Comparison between marbofloxacin and pradofloxacin in an investigator-blinded randomised interventional study. Pharmacokinetic data will be combined with MIC distribution together with the relationship between exposure and dynamic of bacterial kill modelled will be used to propose clinical breakpoints (highest MIC value considered “sensitive”) for fluoroquinolones in canine pyoderma.

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• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) One Health Poultry Hub

  

  With integrated streams of social, economic, biological, mathematical and policy-led research, we are co-producing detailed knowledge on the biological, structural and socio-economic factors that shape networks of chicken production and distribution. The RVC-led UKRI GCRF One Health Poultry Hub brings together leading laboratory, clinical, veterinary and social scientists, as well as skilled communications experts, programme support staff and external stakeholders.  

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