Exponential heating in drug stability experiment and statistical evaluation of nonisothermal and isothermal prediction

Evaluation of non-isothermal methods in stability studies of human insulin pharmaceutical preparations

The purpose of this research was to study the thermal stability of a human insulin pharmaceutical preparation using non-isothermal conditions and comparison with classical isothermal experiments. The isothermal studies were performed in the temperature range 20-60 degrees C, whereas non-isothermal stability studies were performed using a linear increasing temperature program, heating rate 0.25 degrees C per hour and temperature interval 30-70 degrees C. Under isothermal conditions, an apparent first-order degradation process was observed at all temperatures. The linear Arrhenius plot suggested that the insulin degradation mechanism was the same within the studied temperature range, with quite large uncertainties due to the small number of degrees of freedom based only on the scatter in the plot, giving an estimated shelf-life at 25 degrees C of 199.1 days. In non-isothermal conditions, the integral approach was used to estimate the activation parameters. It provides results in good agreement with those of the traditional method, but with the advantage that the uncertainty in the final result directly reflects the goodness of fit of the experimental data, since it takes into account the scatter in the original data. The estimated shelf-life in non-isothermal conditions was quite close to the value derived from isothermal data, 191.4 days, although the 95% confidence interval estimated were slightly higher. This is due to the differences in the estimation method and the nature of the experimental errors. The bootstrap technique is also applied to estimating confidence limits for the Arrhenius parameters and shelf-life. This method is very useful when the underlying distribution function of the parameters is unknown. The results obtained indicate that the Arrhenius parameters follow a normal distribution, whereas the shelf-life follows a log-normal distribution. In any case, the results obtained show that there is no difference between the asymptotic and bootstrap confidence intervals.

Evaluation of Cholecystokinin (CCK-8) Peptide Thermal Stability for Use as Radiopharmaceutical by Means Isothermal and Nonisothermal Approaches

The purpose of this research was to study the thermal stability of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) in aqueous solution at pH 12 and ionic strength 0.01 M, which were kept as constants, by using isothermal and nonisothermal methods. The isothermal decomposition of CCK-8 was investigated as a function of temperature (40 degrees C to 70 degrees C). Nonisothermal stability studies were performed using a linear increasing temperature program. Two different nonisothermal studies were carried out at 0.25 degrees K and 0.5 degrees K per hour, and the temperature interval varied from 40 degrees C to 82 degrees C. The degradation of CCK-8 followed first-order kinetics, obeying the Arrhenius equation in the experimental temperature range. This indicated that the degradation mechanism of CCK-8 could be the equal within the temperature range studied. The nonisothermal approach resulted in activation energy (Ea) and shelf-life (t90%) values that agree well with those obtained by the isothermal method. The level of uncertainty in the estimates of t90% and Ea values is determined mainly by the extent of drug degradation and temperature change during the experiment. Therefore, nonisothermal experiments save time, labor and materials (i.e. the amount of drugs necessary to conduct the experiment) compared to the classic isothermal experiments, if they are performed using a suitable experimental design and a precise analytical method.

A simulation study with statistical evaluation for the determination of non-isothermal kinetics conditions in drugs stability

Non-isothermal degradations were applied to carry out simulation studies to analyse the influence of some factors on the accuracy and precision of stability parameters of drugs, to establish the best work conditions in experimental studies of stability using non-isothermal methodology. These factors were: random error added, sampling frequency, heating model, extent of drug degradation, amplitude of temperature range and mean temperature. Simulation studies were realized for a first-order degradation process. A weighted non-linear regression was used to determine the stability parameters which were statistically evaluated. An ANOVA analysis and post hoc comparisons tests were made to determine the statistical significance of the influence of each factor studied on the central value and on the precision of stability parameters of drugs. Univariant general linear model allowed to establish quantitatively the effect of the variability of the factors studied on the variability on the precision of the kinetic parameters. It was found that the influence of the studied factors was not statistically significant (p>0.05) on the activation energy (E(a)) and shelf-life (t(90)) values. Nevertheless, four of the six analysed factors influenced with statistical significance on the precision of the shelf-life according the following decreasing order of importance: random error added, extent of drug degradation, amplitude of temperature range and heating model.

Data Analysis of Kinetic Modelling Used in Drug Stability Studies: Isothermal Versus Nonisothermal Assays

PURPOSE

Kinetic modelling was applied to predict the stability of cholecystokinin fragment CCK-4 in aqueous solution, which was analyzed by isothermal and nonisothermal methods using a validated stability indicating HPLC method.

METHODS

The isothermal studies were performed in the temperature range 40 to 80 degrees C at pH 12 and ionic strength 0.01 M as constants, whereas nonisothermal stability studies were performed using a linear increasing temperature program, heating rate 0.25 degrees C/h and a temperature interval 40-82 degrees C. The isothermal studies require two-step linear regression to estimate the parameters, resulting in a well-defined confidence interval. Nonisothermal kinetic studies require nonlinear or linear regression by previous transformation of data to estimate the parameters. In this case, the two most popular approaches, derivative and integral, were used and compared.

RESULTS

Under isothermal conditions, an apparent first-order degradation process was observed at all temperatures. The linear Arrhenius plot suggested that the CCK-4 degradation mechanism was the same within the studied temperature range, with quite large uncertainties due to the small number of degrees of freedom based only on the scatter in the plot, and giving an estimated shelf life at 25 degrees C of 35.2 days. The derivative approach yields high variability in the Arrhenius parameters, since they are dependent on the number of polynomial terms chosen, so several statistical criteria were applied to select the best model. The integral approach allows activation parameters to be calculated directly from experimental data, and provides results in good agreement with those of the traditional method, but have the advantage that the uncertainty in the final result directly reflects the goodness of fit of the experimental data to the chosen kinetic model. The application of the bootstrap technique to estimating confidence limits for the Arrhenius parameters and shelf life is also illustrated, and shows there is no difference between the asymptotic and bootstrap confidence intervals.

CONCLUSIONS

Nonisothermal studies give us fast and valuable information about drug stability, although their potential for predicting isothermal behaviour is conditioned by the data analysis method applied.

Accelerated aging: Prediction of chemical stability of pharmaceuticals

Methods of rapidly and accurately assessing the chemical stability of pharmaceutical dosage forms are reviewed with respect to the major degradation mechanisms generally observed in pharmaceutical development. Methods are discussed, with the appropriate caveats, for accelerated aging of liquid and solid dosage forms, including small and large molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients. In particular, this review covers general thermal methods, as well as accelerated aging methods appropriate to oxidation, hydrolysis, reaction with reactive excipient impurities, photolysis and protein denaturation.

Statistical evaluation for stability studies under stress storage conditions

During the pharmaceutical development of a new drug, it is necessary to select as soon as possible the formulation with the best stability characteristics. The current International Commission for Harmonisation (ICH) regulations regarding stability testing requirements for a Registration Application provide the stress testing conditions with the aim of assessing the effect of severe conditions on the drug product. In practice, the well-known Arrhenius theory is still used to make a rapid stability prediction, to estimate a drug product shelf life during early stages of its pharmaceutical development. In this work, both the planning of a stress stability study to obtain a correct stability prediction from a temperature extrapolation and the suitable data treatment to discern the reliability of the stability results are discussed. The study was focused on the early formulation step of a very stable drug, Mitonafide (antineoplastic agent), formulated in a parenteral solution and in tablets. It was observed, for the solid system, that the extrapolated results using Arrhenius theory might be statistically good, but far from the real situation if the stability study is not designed in a correct way. The statistical data treatment and the stress-stability test proposed in this work are suitable to make a reliable stability prediction of different formulations with the same drug, within its pharmaceutical development.