The stability of insulin solutions in syringes is improved by ensuring lower molecular weight silicone lubricants are absent.

Protein drugs such as insulin are almost universally delivered via glass syringes lubricated with silicone oil. It is not uncommon for prefilled syringes (PFS) to become cloudy, which may affect bioavailability or total drug dose. To examine the role, if any, of the silicone oil lubricant in this process, a systematic evaluation of the degree of insulin denaturation and aggregation as a function of silicone oils of different molecular weights was undertaken. The former was measured using fluorescence changes of aqueous insulin/silicone dispersions, while the latter examined changes in turbidity as a function of mixing and silicone oil type; the results were confirmed at two different insulin concentrations and agitation speeds. Lower molecular weight silicones led to the most rapid denaturation and aggregation, and when examined in blends of silicones at a fixed viscosity of 1000 cSt, commonly used for syringe lubrication, more rapid denaturation/aggregation was noted in blends of silicones containing the largest fractions of low molecular weight materials. As a consequence, the molecular weight profile of silicone lubricants should be established prior to the preparation of prefilled syringes.

Superwetting comonomers reduce adhesion of E. coli BL21.

The adhesion of Escherichia coli to copolymers of methacrylates and a trisiloxane-polyether acrylate surfactant was found to be at a minimum with copolymers containing a low (20%) fraction of the surfactant monomer. Rather than wettability, hardness, or water uptake, adhesion was found to be limited by the presence of low concentrations of bound surfactant that can interact with hydrophobic domains on the bacterium inhibiting anchoring to the polymer surface.

Tunable, antibacterial activity of silicone polyether surfactants.

Silicone surfactants are used in a variety of applications, however, limited data is available on the relationship between surfactant structure and biological activity. A series of seven nonionic, silicone polyether surfactants with known structures was tested for in vitro antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli BL21. The compounds varied in their hydrophobic head, comprised of branched silicone structures with 3-10 siloxane linkages and, in two cases, phenyl substitution, and hydrophilic tail of 8-44 poly(ethylene glycol) units. The surfactants were tested at three concentrations: below, at, and above their Critical Micelle Concentrations (CMC) against 5 concentrations of E. coli BL21 in a three-step assay comprised of a 14-24h turbidometric screen, a live-dead stain and viable colony counts. The bacterial concentration had little effect on antibacterial activity. For most of the surfactants, antibacterial activity was higher at concentrations above the CMC. Surfactants with smaller silicone head groups had as much as 4 times the bioactivity of surfactants with larger groups, with the smallest hydrophobe exhibiting potency equivalent to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Smaller PEG chains were similarly associated with higher potency. These data link lower micelle stability and enhanced permeability of smaller silicone head groups to antibacterial activity. The results demonstrate that simple manipulation of nonionic silicone polyether structure leads to significant changes in antibacterial activity.

Low molecular weight silicones particularly facilitate human serum albumin denaturation.

There is a market trend towards the administration of therapeutic proteins using sterilized, pre-filled glass syringes lubricated with silicone oil. It has been widely reported that initially clear solutions of proteins can become turbid during transport and storage, with unclear outcomes with respect to bioefficacy. While the basic processes of interactions of proteins with hydrophobic entities, leading to denaturation and aggregation, are increasingly well understood, the apparently random occurrence of such processes in syringes is not. To better understand the parameters that may be responsible for this change, we report the systematic examination of a series of factors that can affect the behavior of the protein human serum albumin (HSA) when in contact with silicone oil in water. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that greater mixing times and greater concentrations of silicones (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)), especially lower molecular weight hydrophobic silicones like octamethyltetracyclosiloxane (D4), were associated with increased protein denaturation. The turbidity of HSA solutions, due to the formation both of silicone oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions and protein aggregates, was also facilitated by the presence of D4. A series of mixtures of silicone oils, all of which exhibited a viscosity of 1000 cSt but which were comprised of different silicone constituents, clearly showed a correlation between the presence of lower molecular silicones and enhanced solution turbidity. While the addition of a non-ionic silicone-polyether surfactant led to greater turbidity by increasing the number of stabilized oil droplets, it was not accompanied by protein denaturation. These results are consistent with HSA denaturation and subsequent aggregation as a consequence of contact particularly with low molecular weight, hydrophobic silicones that are more mobile, leading to more efficient protein/silicone contact.