Carbohydrate excipients

M. Katakam and K. A. Banga, Aggregation of proteins and its prevention by carbohydrate excipients albumins and gamma-globulin. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 47.103-107(1995). 

D-mannitol is a common carbohydrate excipient used in pharmaceutical formulations, and is known to exist in three anhydrous polymorphic forms. ... 

Freeze-drying is a relatively gentle way of removing water from proteins in solution. However, this process can promote the inactivation of some protein types, and specific excipients (cryopro-tectants) are usually added to the product in order to minimize such inactivation. Commonly used cryoprotectants include carbohydrates (such as glucose and sucrose), proteins (such as HSA), and amino acids (such as lysine, arginine or glutamic acid). Alcohols/polyols have also found some application as cryoprotectants. 

The intended human formulation of the vaccine is administered to the animals in order to ensure exposure to all of the vaccine components, including the protein or carbohydrate antigen, adjuvant, excipients, and impurities. 

As a result, various excipients (from small molecules to polymers) have been added to the aqueous solution prior to lyophilization. Some of the most common are carbohydrates [86], polymers [87], organic buffer [81], competitive inhibitors [42], or nonbuffer salts [88]. 

The use of various polysaccharides for pharmaceutical purposes has a long historical background and increased considerably during the last decades. This is not only the case for polysaccharides used as excipients, which are essential for specific formulations and constitute the most widely used form of polysaccharides, but also for a series of carbohydrate polymers which have proven to be most useful as direct drugs. 

Such small particles usually are generated by air-jet micronization and less frequently by controlled precipitation or spray drying. As bulk powder, they usually tend to be very cohesive and exhibit poor flow and insufficient dispersion because of large interparticle forces such as van der Waals and electrostatic forces (Zeng et al. 2001 Podczeck 1998 Hickey et al. 1994). The control of sufficient powder flow and deaggregation (dispersion) is thus of utmost importance to ensure efficient therapy with a dry-powder aerosol. Two different formulation approaches are used currently in marketed DPI preparations to fulfill the requirements. Most often, coarse particles of a pharmacologically inactive excipient, usually a-lactose monohydrate, are added that act as a carrier and provide sufficient powder flow to the mixture. Other carbohydrates, amino acids, and phospholipids have been suggested frequently (Crowder et al. 2001). 

Formaldehyde, along with other short-chain aldehydes such as acetaldehyde, is a low molecular weight, volatile, reactive contaminant that can be present at low levels from a variety of sources (e.g., excipients such as polyethylene oxide, polyethylene glycol (64,65), or from carbohydrate degradation (66), solvent contamination (51), packaging materials (52), etc.). Formaldehyde is known to react with amines (Fig. 33) to form a reactive N-hydroxymethyl compound (a hemiaminal) that can further react with other nucleophiles. Reaction of formaldehyde with amino acids (67) can cause... 

Information about excipients is useful in the initial planning and interpretation of the excipient compatibility results. Important factors to consider for excipients include their physical-chemical properties. The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Excipients lists important information on structure, moisture content, melting point, pH, solubility, and equilibrium moisture at variable relative humidity for individual excipients (27). An example of relevant physical-chemical parameters for some select excipients is detailed in Table 1. A spectroscopic review of excipients (28) has been completed, and extensive reviews of some of the most common types of excipients (i.e., carbohydrate based) are published (29). 

One of the critical factors in excipient selection and concentration is the effect on preferential hydration of the biopharmaceutical product [53, 54], Preferential hydration refers to the hydration layers on the outer surface of the protein and can be utilized to thermodynamically explain both stability enhancement and denatur-ation. Typical excipients used in protein formulations include albumin, amino acids, carbohydrates, chelating and reducing agents, cyclodextrins, polyhydric alcohols, polyethylene glycol, salts, and surfactants. Several of these excipients increase the preferential hydration of the protein and thus enhance its stability. Cosolvents need to be added in a concentration that will ensure their exclusion from the protein surface and enhance stability [54], A more comprehensive review of excipients utilized for biopharmaceutical drug products is available elsewhere [48],... 

Preservatives In addition to those processing controls mentioned above (Section 3.1.4.3), the sterility of a product may be maintained through the addition of antimicrobial preservatives. Preservation against microbial growth is an important aspect of multidose parenteral preparations as well as other formulations that require preservatives to minimize the risk of patient infection upon administration, such as infusion products [52], Aqueous liquid products are prone to microbial contamination because water in combination with excipients derived from natural sources (e.g., polypeptides, carbohydrates) and proteinaceous active ingredients may serve as excellent media for the growth [57], The major criteria for the selection of an appropriate preservative include efficiency against a wide spectrum of micro-... 

Formaldehyde (HCOH) is a common impurity found from packaging material, resulting from reaction between carbohydrates and excipients. Since formaldehyde is a carbonyl, an API containing an amine is prone to reaction with this functionality (refer to Section A15.1.2.2). 

One of the most known formulation reaction in the pharmaceutical industry is the reaction between an amine (primary or secondary) and a carbohydrate (e.g., sugar) is known as the Maillard reaction (the browning reaction due to mixing of a reduced sugar and an amine) [13]. One of the examples of the Maillard reaction is fluoxetine HCl [14] Figure A15-6. The details of how to avoid this reaction in the formulation is outlined in Section 15.5 [Impact of excipients on Degradation products of API(s)]. 

Lactic acid occurs in appreciable quantities in the body as an end product of the anaerobic metabolism of carbohydrates and, while harmful in the concentrated form (see Section 15), can be considered nontoxic at the levels at which it is used as an excipient. A 1% v/v solution, for example, is harmless when applied to the skin. 

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