Salinomycin Sodium is approved for use at 40 - 60 grams per ton of medicated feed.

The trypanocidal activity of salinomycin was determined with bloodstream forms of the T. brucei clone 427–221 while the general cytotoxicity of the ionophore was evaluated with human HL-60 cells and normal PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells). Cells were seeded in 24-well plates in a final volume of 1 ml of appropriate culture medium (trypanosomes: Baltz medium; human cells: RPMI medium) supplemented with 16.7% (v/v) heat-inactivated foetal bovine serum and containing various concentrations of salinomycin (10-4 to 10-9 M) and 1% DMSO. Wells containing medium and 1% DMSO served as controls. The initial cell densities were 1 × 104/ml for trypanosomes, 1 × 105/ml for HL-60 cells and 5 × 105/ml for PBMCs. After 24 h incubation, 100 μl of a 0.44 mM resazurin solution prepared in PBS was added and the cells were incubated for a further 48 h. Thereafter, the plates were read on a microplate reader using a test wavelength of 570 nm and a reference wavelength of 630 nm. The 50% growth inhibition (GI50) value (trypanosomes and HL-60 cells) and the 50% effective concentration (EC50) value (PBMCs), i.e., the concentration of salinomycin necessary to reduce the growth rate of cells by 50% or to cause an effect in 50% of cells compared to the control, were determined from mean values using the 4-parameter logistic model