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OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a liquid oral formulation containing losartan potassium, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist drug used for its antihypertensive activity, and to perform a preliminary stability assessment under different temperatures and packages to ensure paediatric therapeutic adherence and facilitate the hospital routine. METHODS: A syrup containing losartan potassium (1.0 and 2.5 mg/mL) (excipients: potassium sorbate, sucrose (85%), water, citric acid and raspberry flavouring) was prepared. The packaging was carried out in amber polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and amber glass bottles (in triplicate) under the following conditions: (a) room temperature (15-30°C); (b) refrigeration (2-8°C); and (c) oven temperature (40°C) for 28 days. An analytical method by high performance liquid chromatography using a reverse-phase column was also developed and validated for quantitative determination of the drug in the formulations. RESULTS: The analytical method showed satisfactory linearity, detection and quantification limits, precision, accuracy and robustness. Samples at room temperature maintained content values between 90% and 110% for 7 days, while those stored under refrigeration maintained a homogeneous appearance and content between 90% and 110% for a period of 21 days. Values of pH stayed in a narrow range. Viscosity results were between 40.1 and 49.2 centipoise (cp) for glass bottles and 42.4 and 54.7 cp for PET bottles. CONCLUSIONS: A simple and economical losartan potassium liquid formulation was produced and was shown to be stable under refrigeration for 21 days in both PET and glass packages.

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The absence of oral liquid pharmaceutical forms appropriate for use in pediatric and adult patients with difficulty swallowing is a public health problem, especially in the hospital context. Baclofen is a muscle relaxant of choice for treating spasticity, generally marketed only in tablet form, highlighting the need for liquid formulations to facilitate dose adjustment, administration, and swallowing. The present study aimed to develop oral liquid formulations containing baclofen, optimize them through the quality by design approach, and evaluate their physicochemical and microbiological stability. Preformulation and preliminary stability studies were carried out for the development of formulations. Experimental screening and optimization designs resulted in eleven experiments for each step that were evaluated for 28 days. A stability-indicating method by high-performance liquid chromatography presented linearity, low limits of detection and quantification, precision, accuracy, and robustness. The experimental design led to two optimized formulations containing baclofen, glycerin, potassium sorbate, citric acid, ultrapure water, flavor, and sucrose syrup or sodium carboxymethylcellulose solution as a vehicle, the last one with sucralose as a sweetener. The formulations were placed in amber glass flasks and subjected to a physicochemical and microbiological stability study. Both formulations showed physicochemical and microbiological stability when stored at room temperature and refrigerated for 84 days. The results of this study may serve as a reference in the preparation of liquid oral formulations containing baclofen in the hospital routine and collaborate with the safety and adherence to the treatment of adult and pediatric patients.

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A falta de medicamentos contendo bulas prevendo o tratamento de pacientes pediátricos representa um problema frequentemente observado em hospitais, principalmente nos setores de unidade de terapia intensiva (UTI) pediátrica e neonatais. Sabe-se que, para que um tratamento seja considerado seguro e eficaz, uma série de estudos clínicos são necessários, no entanto, relata-se um baixo número dessas pesquisas envolvendo crianças, principalmente devido a questões éticas que dificultam a condução das mesmas. Assim, poucos são os medicamentos que provam ser adequados para o tratamento desses pacientes, tornando necessário recorrer ao uso de medicamentos off-label e não licenciados. Os medicamentos são classificados como off-label quando seu uso se dá de maneira que difere de suas especificações aprovadas, por sua vez, produtos não licenciados são classificados desta forma por não possuírem aprovação para sua comercialização no país ou não possuírem comprovação de segurança e eficácia. O preparo de protocolos de estudo organizados, relato de informações aos pais e à criança de maneira clara e objetiva, aproximação entre pesquisadores e pais para o estabelecimento de uma relação de confiança e a condução das pesquisas em momentos de disponibilidade da família demonstram-se estratégias importantes para facilitar a realização dos ensaios clínicos.

The lack of medicines containing drug information leaflets considering the treatment of pediatric patients is a problem frequently observed in hospitals, especially in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit (ICU) sectors. It is known that, for a treatment to be considered safe and effective, a series of clinical studies are necessary; however, a low number of these studies involving children are reported, mainly due to ethical issues that make conducting them difficult. Thus, few drugs prove to be suitable for treating these patients, making it necessary to resort to using off-label and unlicensed drugs. Drugs are classified as off-label when their use differs from their approved specifications, in turn, unlicensed products are classified in this way due to not having approval for marketing in the country or do not have proof of safety and efficacy. Preparation of organized study protocols, reporting information to parents and the child in a clear and objective way, bringing researchers and parents closer to establish a relationship of trust and conducting research at moments when the family is available are important strategies to facilitate conducting clinical trials.

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BACKGROUND: Posaconazole is a triazole antifungal drug that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006. No bioassay of it is available in the literature nor official codes for potency determination in bulk. OBJECTIVE: To conduct an analytical study focused on posaconazole in bulk. METHODS: An alternative microbiological assay was validated for drug quantitation, applying agar diffusion technics (3 × 3 design), using Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC MYA 1942 as a test microorganism (2% inoculum). An isocratic HPLC-DAD method, with C8 Shim-pack column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) and methanol-water (75:25 v/v) mobile phase was used for stress stability by photolysis and oxidation, indicating the formation of degradation products, which were investigated by ultra-performance liquid chromatography to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. RESULTS: The established conditions for the bioassay were satisfactory. It was linear in the range evaluated (2.5-10.0 µg/mL), as well as precise, accurate, and robust. Stress tests showed drug susceptibility to the factors evaluated (60% of degradation after 120 min). Kinetics curves for photolytic decomposition followed first-order kinetics. From a photolytic and oxidative degraded matrix, three major degradation products were identified as being derivatives with modifications in the piperazine central ring and in the triazole and triazolone side chains, whose mass spectra results were m/z 683 (DP1), m/z 411 (DP2), and m/z 465 (DP3). CONCLUSIONS: The microbiological method was adequately validated and demonstrated to be equivalent to physico-chemical ones. The impurities found are described for the first time in studies with posaconazole raw material. HIGHLIGHTS: A microbiological bioassay was developed for posaconazole, first-order kinetics was determined for photolytic degradation, and structures for new degradation products were suggested.

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Tizanidine hydrochloride is a centrally acting skeletal muscle relaxant, used in the management of spasticity. This drug is commercially available only as tablets, which highlights the need to develop oral liquid formulations. In the hospital environment, this aspect is circumvented by the preparation of suspensions, to allow administration to children and adults with impaired swallowing, but there are no data regarding their stability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical andmicrobiological stability of liquid dosage forms prepared in the hospital environment from tizanidine hydrochloride tablets, applying high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and microbiological analysis. A simple and stability-indicating HPLC method was developed and validated for specificity, linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision, accuracy and robustness. The liquid formulations were placed in amber PET and glass bottles, which were stored under three different conditions: at room temperature, under refrigeration and at 40 ºC. The liquid formulations were analyzed and demonstrated chemical stability for 56 days, allowing their use for long periods. However, the determination of microbiological stability showed that these formulations are prone to microbial contamination, which has dramatically reduced its stability to 7 days, in both bottles and at all evaluated temperatures

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Tizanidine hydrochloride is a centrally acting skeletal muscle relaxant used in the treatment of spasticity. This drug is sold only as tablets or capsules, which highlights the need to develop oral liquid formulations that allow administration to children and adults with impaired swallowing. This study aim was to develop and improve tizanidine hydrochloride liquid formulations from raw material and to evaluate their stability. A stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatography method was validated for two formulations developed. Fifteen formulations were developed containing syrup and fifteen containing sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as vehicles, to select the two most suitable for stability testing. The formulations were prepared in triplicate and placed in amber polyethylene terephthalate and glass bottles, which were stored under three different conditions: at room temperature (15-30°C), under refrigeration (2-8°C), and at 40°C. The physicochemical and microbiological stability of formulations were evaluated, applying high performance liquid chromatography and microbiological count. The studied formulations at 15-30°C, 2-8°C, and 40°C can be used for a period of 70 days, and all parameters are inside of recommended specifications, enough to allow its use in the context for which it was developed, the application in hospital. The formulations developed in this work have simple components to avoid adverse reactions in vulnerable populations. Results of this study could be applied as a reference for hospital use; once it demonstrated the reliability of storage time interval and proper conditions for use.

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A simple, stability-indicating micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method was developed and validated for the analysis of mianserin hydrochloride in coated tablets. The method employed (hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) 50 mM to which sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) 50 mM was added at pH 10.6 as the electrolyte and the voltage applied was 25 kV. The capillary used was 48.5 cm long (40.0 cm effective length and 50.0 µm i.d.) and the detection wavelength was 220 nm. Tetracycline was used as internal standard. The method was validated in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) requirements, which involved specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness. The stability-indicating capability of the method was established by enforced degradation studies combined with peak purity assessment using photodiode array detection. The degradation products formed under photolytic and oxidative conditions were investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The method was linear over the concentration range of 50-130 µg/mL. The method was precise as demonstrated by an inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviation of less than 2.0%. The proposed validated MEKC method showed recoveries between 98.16 and 102.80% of the nominal contents. The Plackett-Burman design was applied for the robustness test in order to examine potential sources of variability by screening a large number of factors in a relatively small number of experiments.

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