{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T10:18:45Z","timestamp":1791195525408,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]],"date-time":"2025-11-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762473600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences","award":["Vega 2\/0005\/24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Vega 2\/0005\/24"]}]},{"name":"OeAD, Austria\u2019s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, Ernst-Mach Grant Action Austria\u2013Slovakia","award":["MPC-2023-01046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MPC-2023-01046"]}]},{"name":"OeAD, Austria\u2019s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, Ernst-Mach Grant Action Austria\u2013Slovakia","award":["Open-Mob-2022-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Open-Mob-2022-01"]}]},{"name":"OeAD, Austria\u2019s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, Ernst-Mach Grant Action Austria\u2013Slovakia","award":["CNR-SAS-2022-02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CNR-SAS-2022-02"]}]},{"name":"OeAD, Austria\u2019s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, Ernst-Mach Grant Action Austria\u2013Slovakia","award":["COST Action CA22109"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["COST Action CA22109"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Thymol gastro-resistant self-emulsifying pellets were used to achieve thymol targeted release on the side of the intestine with the most intensive absorption to enhance its oral bioavailability. Forty-eight rabbits (35 d of age) were divided into two groups fed with a standard diet containing gastro-resistant enteric pellets (control, CG; without thymol, initial live weight 1350.0 \u00b1 18.0, and experimental, EG; with thymol 250 mg\/kg, initial live weight 1352.0 \u00b1 19.9 g). The experiment lasted 28 days: thymol was administered for 21 days and then withdrawn for 7 days. Thymol was significantly higher in duodenal wall (DW) than in plasma during both periods (p = 0.0053, p &lt; 0.0001). Significant correlation was established between thymol concentration in plasma and DW during its application (rs = 0.9333, p &lt; 0.001). Thymol was below the limit of quantitation in plasma, spleen and muscle only after its withdrawal, and its significantly higher concentration in kidney and fat than in plasma (p = 0.0182, p = 0.0003) and muscle (p = 0.0236, p = 0.0004) indicates its efficient accumulation. Thymol in gastro-resistant form prevented its degradation due to adverse conditions in the stomach and ensured its release at the site of greatest absorption in the small intestine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15223238","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,10]],"date-time":"2025-11-10T11:47:27Z","timestamp":1762775247000},"page":"3238","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Bioavailability of Thymol Incorporated into Gastro-Resistant Self-Emulsifying Pellets in Rabbits"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5169-2858","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Radoslava","family":"Kristofova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Digestive Tract Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"},{"name":"University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6908-7074","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karin","family":"Zitterl-Eglseer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Veterinary Systems Transformation and Sustainability, Clinical Department for Farm Animal and Food Systems Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fardad","family":"Firooznia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7413-3816","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Laukova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Digestive Tract Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lubica","family":"Chrastinova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Animal Production Research Centre, National Agricultural and Food Centre, Hlohovecka 2, 951 41 Nitra-Luzianky, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0377-4672","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika","family":"Pogany Simonova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Digestive Tract Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7478-9177","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Margareta","family":"Takacsova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Digestive Tract Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1856-4475","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kristina","family":"Bacova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Digestive Tract Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8724-0159","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iveta","family":"Placha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Digestive Tract Physiology, Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1080\/17460441.2023.2211801","article-title":"Promising strategies for improving oral bioavailability of poor water-soluble drugs","volume":"18","author":"Rocha","year":"2023","journal-title":"Expert Opin. 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