Effect of Technically Relevant X-Ray Doses on the Structure and Function of Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Hen Egg-White Lysozyme

X-ray imaging: A potential enabler of automated particulate detection and cake-structure analysis in lyophilized products?

The presence of particulate matter in parenteral products is a major concern since it affects the patients' safety and is one of the main reasons for product recalls. Conventional quality control is based on a visual inspection, which is a labour-intensive task. Limited to clear solutions and the surface of lyophilised products, it cannot be applied to opaque containers. This study assesses the application of X-ray imaging for detecting the particulate matter in a pharmaceutical lyophilized product. The most common types of particulates (i.e., steel, glass, lyo stopper, polymers and organics in different size classes) were intentionally spiked in vials. After optimizing all relevant parameters of the X-ray set-up, all classes of particulates were detected. At the same time, due to contrast enhancement, the inherent structures of lyophilized cake became obvious. This work addresses the potential and limits of X-ray technology in that regard, paving the way for automated image-based particulate matter detection. Moreover, this paper discusses using this approach to predict critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the drug product based on the cake structure attributes.

A novel indomethacin/methotrexate/MMP-9 siRNA in situ hydrogel with dual effects of anti-inflammatory activity and reversal of cartilage disruption for the synergistic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration, and cartilage and bone disruption, which ultimately leads to loss of joint function. Current treatments for RA only focus on anti-inflammatory activity but neglect to prevent further damage to articular cartilage and bone. Here we attempted to co-deliver indomethacin (IND), methotrexate (MTX) and a small-interfering RNA targeting MMP-9 using an in situ hydrogel loaded with PEI-SS-IND-MTX-MMP-9 siRNA nanoparticles (D/siRNA-NGel) to treat RA synergistically and comprehensively. IND, MTX and MMP-9 siRNA were able to escape from the endosome and down-regulate the expression of MMP-9 and inflammatory cytokines of Raw-264.7 cells. After intra-articular injection in arthritic mice, the D/siRNA-NGel effectively relieved joint swelling and significantly reduced the expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and MMP-9 in the ankle fluid, knee joint fluid and plasma of RA mice without causing any side effects. Most importantly, the co-delivery system restored the morphological parameters of the ankle joints close to normal. The D/siRNA-NGel could achieve good anti-inflammatory activity and reverse cartilage disruption through a synergistic effect between chemical drugs and MMP-9 siRNA. This co-delivery system should have promising applications in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other metabolic bone diseases which cause serious bone erosion.