Quantitative analysis of oleic acid and three types of polyethers according to the number of hydroxy end groups in Polysorbate 80 by hydrophilic interaction chromatography at critical conditions

Macromolecules in polysorbate 80 for injection: an important cause of anaphylactoid reactions

Polysorbate 80 for injection (TW80) is a common excipient used for injection whose macromolecular impurities, including those that cause anaphylactoid reactions, are frequently ignored. The main aim of this study was to prove that the macromolecular impurities in the excipient are an important cause of anaphylactoid reactions. Component A (containing macromolecules > 100 kDa), Component B (containing macromolecules from 10 to 100 kDa), and Component C (containing substances < 10 kDa) were prepaired from the original TW80 using ultrafilters. The original TW80 contained numerous substances with molecular weights > 10kD. The original TW80 and Components A and B caused strong anaphylactoid reactions in both guinea pigs and rabbits by intravenous administration. Moreover, the original TW80 and Components A and B even caused strong passive cutaneous anaphylactoid (PCA) reactions and pulmonary capillary permeability. The PCA reaction and increased permeability were partly prevented by cromolyn sodium. Additionally, the original TW80 and Components A and B caused vasodilation and severe hemolysis in vitro. The anaphylactoid reactions were associated with histamine release but not with mast cell degranulation. Nevertheless, Component C almost caused no anaphylactoid reactions or hemolysis and was weaker in the few reactions that ocurred. Taken together, these results suggest that macromolecular substances are one of the main risk factors responsible for anaphylactoid reactions and hemolysis caused by TW80.

Screening of Polysorbate-80 Composition by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry with Rapid H/D Exchange

Polysorbate (PS) is a widely used polymeric excipient in biotherapeutic formulations to stabilize and protect protein drugs. Commercial PS is a highly heterogeneous mixture of structurally related components. PS composition can impact the stabilizer performance of PS in formulated protein drugs. Characterization of PS heterogeneity is, however, analytically challenging. In this work, a high-throughput screening protocol is presented for the profiling of the PS-80 polysorbate form using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) coupled with a rapid hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange in deuterated methanol. The protocol takes advantage of accurate mass measurements from HRMS analysis and utilizes H/D exchange-induced mass shifts that are characteristic to structures (particularly the number of terminal hydroxyl groups) of PS molecules to definitively identify species. In particular, mass shifts caused by deuterium uptake were used (1) to confirm molecular identities assigned by accurate mass measurements (which adds an extra level of identification confidence) and (2) to differentiate isomers that have an identical mass (thus, undistinguishable by high mass accuracy), but differ in the number of terminal hydroxyls. These data were input to an automated searching algorithm against a molecular mass database covering over 17000 potential PS-80 molecular species. The identified species were then visualized with Kendrick Mass Defect plots. The analysis protocol identified and profiled over 180 species from PS-80 samples in a high-throughput fashion without requiring chromatographic separation to reduce complexity of mixtures or tandem mass spectrometric analysis to conduct structural elucidation.

Molecular dynamics simulations of structure-property relationships of Tween 80 surfactants in water and at interfaces

We build a united atom model for Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan oleates), based on the GROMOS53A6(OXY+D) force field, and apply it to two stereoisomers, three constitutional isomers, and three structures with one, two, and three tails, to represent components in the Tween 80 commercial mixture. In a preassembled micelle containing 60 molecules, the distribution of Tween tail and ethylene oxide head groups is found to be insensitive to stereoisomerization but sensitive to changes in relative lengths of the four polyoxyethylene head groups. At the air-water and oil-water interfaces, the interfacial tension is significantly lower for the constitutional isomer with a shorter W headgroup, which attaches the tail to the sorbitan ring, and for Tween 80 isomers with more than one tail group. The results indicate the possible scope for improvement in the design of polyoxyethylene sorbitan oleates with improved surface tension reduction or better spreading at the oil-water interface. We also report surfactant component distribution profiles within preassembled micelles and at interfaces that can be used for validating coarse-grained surfactant models needed for simulation of self-assembly of Tween 80 surfactant mixtures.

Characterization and stability study of polysorbate 20 in therapeutic monoclonal antibody formulation by multidimensional ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-charged aerosol detection-mass spectrometry

Polysorbate 20 is a nonionic surfactant commonly used in the formulation of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to prevent protein denaturation and aggregation. It is critical to understand the molecular heterogeneity and stability of polysorbate 20 in mAb formulations as polysorbate can gradually degrade in aqueous solution over time by multiple pathways losing surfactant functions and leading to protein aggregation. The molecular heterogeneity of polysorbate and the interference from proteins and the excipient in the formulation matrix make it a challenge to study polysorbate in protein formulations. In this work, the characterization and stability study of polysorbate 20 in the presence of mAb formulation sample matrix is first reported using two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2DLC) coupled with charged aerosol detection (CAD) and mass spectrometry (MS) detection. A mixed-mode column that has both anion-exchange and reversed-phase properties was used in the first dimension to separate protein and polysorbate in the formulation sample, while polysorbate 20 esters were trapped online and then analyzed using an reversed-phase ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (RP-UHPLC) column in the second dimension to further separate the ester species. The MS served as the third dimension to further resolve as well as to identify the polysorbate ester subspecies. Another 2DLC method using a cation-exchange column in the first dimension and the same RP-UHPLC method in the second dimension was developed to analyze the degradation products of polysorbate 20. Stability samples of a protein drug product were studied using these two 2DLC-CAD-MS methods to separate, identify, and quantify the multiple ester species in polysorbate 20 and also to monitor the change of their corresponding degradants. We found different polysorbate esters degrade at different rates, and importantly, the degradation rates for some esters are different in the protein formulation compared to a placebo that has no protein. The multidimensional UHPLC-CAD-MS approach provides insights into the heterogeneous stability behaviors of polysorbate 20 subspecies in real-time stability samples of a mAb formulation.