Validación de la capacidad del proceso de pasteurización de la albúmina humana para inactivar virus / Validation of the capacity of the human albumin pasteurization process for virus inactivation

La validación de la capacidad de aclaramiento viral de los procesos de fabricación de productos biológicos constituye un requisito regulatorio en Cuba. Se recomienda introducir la pasteurización en los procesos de producción de la albúmina como un método capaz de inactivar virus; por ello, el objetivo del estudio fue validar la capacidad de inactivación viral de la etapa de pasteurización del proceso de producción de la albúmina humana al 20 y 25 por ciento. Los modelos virales que abarcan los posibles contaminantes de la materia prima, se diluyeron 1:10 en la albúmina en sus 2 concentraciones y se sometieron a tratamiento térmico a 60 °C durante 10 h. Se tomaron muestras a diferentes intervalos de tiempo para la confección de las curvas de cinética de inactivación. Se determinó el factor de reducción aportado por la pasteurización para cada virus. El tratamiento a 60 °C de la albúmina al 20 y 25 por ciento disminuyó significativamente la carga viral inicial con que se retó la etapa, con valores de p< 0,002 y p< 0,021, respectivamente, y se obtuvieron factores de reducción superiores a 4 log del título de todos los virus. La etapa de pasteurización le aportó a la albúmina humana al 20 y 25 por ciento un adecuado nivel de seguridad

The validation of the capacity of viral clearance in the manufacturing processes of biopharmaceuticals is a regulatory requirement in Cuba. It is recommended to introduce the pasteurization in the manufacturing processes of serum albumin as a method of inactivating viruses. The objective of this study was to validate the capacity of viral inactivation in the phase of pasteurization of the 20 percent and 25 percent human albumin production process The viral models covering the possible pollutants of the raw materials were diluted at 1:10 in albumin in 2 concentrations and they were heat-treated at 60 °C for 10 h. Several samples at different time intervals were taken to design the inactivation kinetic curves. The reduction factor of pasteurization for each virus was estimated. The treatment of 20 percent and 25 percent albumin at 60 °C decreased significantly the initial viral load in the stage, with p< 0.002 and p< 0.021 respectively. The reduction factors exceeded 4 log of the titers of all viruses. The stage of pasteurization gave adequate level of safety to the 20 percent and 25 percent human albumin

Serum Albumin Level Correlates with Disease Severity in Patients with Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome

Hypoalbuminemia frequently occurs in Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), but clinical significance of hypoalbuminemia is not well known. This study was designed to evaluate hypoalbuminemia as a marker of severity of disease in patients with HFRS. We evaluated the relationship between the level of serum albumin and clinical parameters representing the severity of disease in 144 patients with HFRS. The patients were divided into three groups based on the level of serum albumin; Group I (normal serum albumin), Group II (serum albumin or =3.0 g/dL), and Group III (serum albumin <3.0 g/dL). Of the total of 144 patients, 42 patients (29.2%) were categorized as Group I, 39 patients (27.1%) as Group II, and 63 patients (43.8%) as Group III. Group III had a higher rate of incidence in episode of hypotension, pulmonary edema than did Group I and Group II. The lowest level of serum albumin was positively correlated with platelet count (r=0.505, p<0.001) and was negatively correlated with leukocyte count (r=-0.329, p<0.001), BUN (r=-0.484, p<0.001), serum creatinine (r=-0.394, p<0.001), and AST (r=-0.251, p=0.002). Our data suggest that hypoalbuminemia frequently occurs in the acute stage of HFRS, and level of serum albumin is associated with the disease severity of HFRS.

Purification of human albumin by the combination of the method of Cohn with liquid chromatography

Large volumes of plasma can be fractionated by the method of Cohn at low cost. However, liquid chromatography is superior in terms of the quality of the product obtained. In order to combine the advantages of each method, we developed an integrated method for the production of human albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). The cryoprecipitate was first removed from plasma for the production of factor VIII and the supernatant of the cryoprecipitate was fractionated by the method of Cohn. The first precipitate, containing fractions (F)-I + II + III, was used for the production of IgG by the chromatographic method (see Tanaka K et al. (1998) Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 31: 1375-1381). The supernatant of F-I + II + III was submitted to a second precipitation and F-IV was obtained and discarded. Albumin was obtained from the supernatant of the precipitate F-IV by liquid chromatography, ion-exchange on DEAE-Sepharose FF, filtration through Sephacryl S-200 HR and introduction of heat treatment for fatty acid precipitation. Viral inactivation was performed by pasteurization at 60oC for 10 h. The albumin product obtained by the proposed procedure was more than 99 per cent pure for the 15 lots of albumin produced, with a mean yield of 25.0 ñ 0.5 g/l plasma, containing 99.0 to 99.3 per cent monomer, 0.7 to 1.0 per cent dimers, and no polymers. Prekallikrein activator levels were ó5 IUml. This product satisfies the requirements of the 1997 Pharmacopée Européenne.

An alternative column chromatographic process for the production of human albumin

We have modified a standard column chromatography method for the preparation of albumin from human plasma. The proposed method utilizes Sephadex G-25, euglobulin precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose, ethanol heat treatment and Sephacryl S-200 HR. The procedure differs from that normally used by the introduction of Schneider's ethanol/heat treatment step and the elimination of a CM-Sepharose step, after the DEAE-Sepharose step. The proposed method was used to produce 15 batches of albumin, 100 liters of plasma per batch. Purity of more than 99 percent was obtained at an average yield of 26.5 g/l plasma for the albumin produced. All batches presented 99.2 to 99.9 percent monomer and 0.1 to 0.8 percent dimer, with no larger polymers detected. The utilization of the final gel filtration step eliminated highly polymerized albumin usually obtained during the process. The advantages of the proposed method are reduction in the overall process time from 6 to 5 days, elimination of the CM-Sepharose step and the reduction of 6 to 4 columns in series for the Sephacryl S-200 HR step.