[Applications of Raman Spectroscopy on Quality Control of Hospital Formulations].

Hospital formulation has several advantages, including the flexibility of customization as per the disease state or the patients' precise requirements. However, compared with commercial formulations, hospital formulations are usually not under the same level of quality check. In the present study, we tested mixed powder formulations prepared in a hospital pharmacy using Raman spectroscopy to investigate the feasibility of applying Raman spectroscopy as a quality-control tool of hospital formulations. For this purpose, we first established a numerical evaluation method to determine the uniformity of a powder mixture using Raman chemical imaging data with atropine sulfate/lactose mixture samples and revealed that the mixing uniformity correlated to the experience level of the pharmacist. Next, we developed a content quantification method in a one-dose packaged powder formulation by measuring the Raman spectra from the outside of the package. Because this method allows for quantification of the components inside the package in a non-destructive and non-contact manner, it can be applied for content confirmation after one-dose packaging. Using this method, the content uniformity of the mixed powder formulation in the one-dose package was compared between the formulations prepared by the pharmacists and those prepared by a pharmacy robot. Our study indicates the possibility of applying Raman spectroscopy as a quality-control tool of hospital formulations. Studies on further applications of Raman spectroscopy in the field of clinical pharmacology are expected.

Assessment of drug content uniformity of atropine sulfate triturate by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, X-ray powder diffraction, and Raman chemical imaging.

BACKGROUND: Atropine sulfate is an anticholinergic agent for treatment of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis and is orally administrated as a triturate with lactose hydrate. Because of the low safety margin of atropine sulfate, triturate uniformity is a key safety factor. In this study, we assessed the uniformity of atropine sulfate in 1000-fold triturates prepared by wet mixing and dry mixing methods and discussed the cause of the difference in uniformity between two preparation methods. METHODS: A 1000-fold triturate of atropine sulfate with lactose hydrate was prepared by two different methods: wet mixing and dry mixing. The wet mixing was performed according to Kurashiki Central Hospital protocol and the dry mixing was a simple physical mixing by a rocking mixer. The uniformity of atropine sulfate content in aliquots of a 1000-fold triturate with lactate hydrate was assessed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) quantification. Solid-state analyses of the triturates by Raman chemical imaging and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) were performed to investigate the difference in uniformity. RESULTS: The LC-MS/MS quantification showed that the uniformity of atropine sulfate in the 1000-fold triturate was excellent for wet mixing but was significantly variable for dry mixing. On the basis of the Raman chemical imaging and XRPD analyses, it was indicated that an amorphous thin film of atropine sulfate coated the surfaces of the lactose hydrate particles during wet mixing and contributed to the uniformity of the triturate. In contrast, clusters of the crystalline atropine sulfate were found in the dry mixing samples. CONCLUSION: The results showed that better atropine sulfate triturate uniformity was achieved using the wet mixing method rather than the dry method and the cause of the uniformity difference between two mixing methods was indicated by the multilateral assessment.

Specificity of a heme-assimilating system of Vibrio vulnificus to synthetic heme compounds.

Vibrio vulnificus strain L-180, a clinical isolate, can obtain iron from a synthetic heme, iron-tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (Fe-TPPS), as well as from a natural heme, protoheme. This assimilation of iron bound to TPPS was demonstrated to be a common property of V. vulnificus by testing a total of 27 strains isolated from both clinical and environmental sources. Strain L-180 could also utilize Fe-TCPP, but not Fe-TMPyP, as a sole iron source. TPPS or its complex with a metal ion reduced bacterial multiplication in the broth containing a minimum dose of Fe-TPPS. When inoculated into human serum supplemented with Fe-TCPP, L-180 could grow only in the presence of a protease from the same bacterium. In both TPPS and TCPP, each side chain of a porphyrin ring has a negative charge. Therefore, this negative charge may be important for interaction with an outer membrane receptor involving in a heme-assimilating system of V. vulnificus.