Polysorbates are surfactants that are widely used in therapeutic protein formulations to prevent the formation of aggregates, denaturation and adsorption of proteins to various surfaces. Chemically, polysorbates are esters of higher fatty acids and polyoxyethylene sorbitan or isosorbide. Polysorbate 20 (PS20) and 80 (PS80), which differ in the composition of fatty acids, are most often used in biological medicines. PS20 contains more saturated fatty acids, mainly lauric acid, while PS80 contains more unsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid. Polysorbates are sensitive to hydrolysis and oxidation, which can affect the quality of biologics.
In our master's thesis, we focused on the oxidative degradation of PS20 and identify potential markers of oxidative degradation. For this purpose, we prepared aqueous solutions of polysorbate 20, which were blown with oxygen, air or argon. The solutions were monitored at room temperature for five weeks, with weekly samples taken. We expected the greatest decrease in PS20 concentration in the presence of oxygen, a slightly smaller decrease in the presence of air, and a negligible decrease in the presence of argon.
The results confirmed expectations: the largest decrease in PS20 concentration (55.8% of the initial concentration) was recorded in the oxygen-purged solution, while the decrease in air and argon solutions was less than 1%. The samples were further analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS). We also attempted to oxidize PS20 with AAPH, but the extent of oxidation was, contrary to expectations, very small, so the samples were not analyzed by LC-MS. The analysis showed an increase in non-esterified polyoxyethylene sorbitans, polyoxyethylene isosorbides and polyoxyethylene chains, while the concentration of esterified compounds decreased, which is the result of cleavage of ester bonds and/or polyethylene glycol chain.
It is interesting that the changes in the oxygen-purged sample appeared with a delay, being pronounced only after the third week. Non-esterified compounds proved to be the best degradation indicator, as their relative share increased more compared to the decrease of esterified compounds. The reason is probably that several different components can break down to the same products.
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