Investigating the Influence of Excipients on the Stability of Levothyroxine Sodium Pentahydrate

Navpreet Kaur; Raj Suryanarayanan

doi:10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00217

Investigating the Influence of Excipients on the Stability of Levothyroxine Sodium Pentahydrate

Navpreet Kaur, Raj Suryanarayanan

Pharmaceutics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

A range of tablet excipients were evaluated for their influence on the physical form and chemical stability of levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate (LSP; C₁₅H₁₀I₄NNaO₄·5H₂O). LSP-excipient binary powder blends were stored under two conditions: (a) in hermetically sealed containers at 40 °C and (b) at 40 °C/75% RH. By use of synchrotron X-ray diffractometry, the disappearance of LSP could be quantified and the appearance of crystalline levothyroxine (free acid) could be identified. Under hermetically sealed conditions (40 °C) hygroscopic excipients such as povidone induced partial dehydration of LSP to form levothyroxine sodium monohydrate. When stored at 40 °C/75% RH, acidic excipients induced measurable disproportionation of LSP resulting in the formation of levothyroxine (free acid). HPLC analyses of drug-excipient mixtures revealed that lactose monohydrate, microcrystalline cellulose, and croscarmellose sodium caused pronounced chemical decomposition of LSP. On the other hand, magnesium stearate, sodium stearyl fumarate, and alkaline pH modifiers did not affect the physical and chemical stability of the API following storage at 40 °C/75% RH. HPLC, being a solution based technique, revealed chemical decomposition of the API, but the technique was insensitive to physical transformations. Excipient properties such as hygroscopicity and microenvironmental acidity were identified to be critical determinants of both physical and chemical stability of LSP in a drug product. For drugs exhibiting both physical and chemical transformations, simultaneous solid-state and solution based analyses will enable comprehensive stability evaluation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2683-2693
Number of pages	11
Journal	Molecular pharmaceutics
Volume	18
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00217
State	Published - Jul 5 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Partial funding for this project was received from the William and Mildred Peters Endowment Fund. Parts of the research work were carried out at the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOC) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. The research project also used resources provided by the Characterization Facility (CharFac), at the University of Minnesota. CharFac receives partial support from NSF through the MRSEC program. We thank Jessica Barry and Dr. Angela Birnbaum for their assistance with the stability studies performed using HPLC. We acknowledge Dr. Devalina Law, Dr. Naga K. Duggirala, and Dr. Seema Thakral for the helpful discussions.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Chemical Society

Keywords

drug product
excipient compatibility
levothyroxine
salt disproportionation
stability

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

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abstract = "A range of tablet excipients were evaluated for their influence on the physical form and chemical stability of levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate (LSP; C15H10I4NNaO4·5H2O). LSP-excipient binary powder blends were stored under two conditions: (a) in hermetically sealed containers at 40 °C and (b) at 40 °C/75% RH. By use of synchrotron X-ray diffractometry, the disappearance of LSP could be quantified and the appearance of crystalline levothyroxine (free acid) could be identified. Under hermetically sealed conditions (40 °C) hygroscopic excipients such as povidone induced partial dehydration of LSP to form levothyroxine sodium monohydrate. When stored at 40 °C/75% RH, acidic excipients induced measurable disproportionation of LSP resulting in the formation of levothyroxine (free acid). HPLC analyses of drug-excipient mixtures revealed that lactose monohydrate, microcrystalline cellulose, and croscarmellose sodium caused pronounced chemical decomposition of LSP. On the other hand, magnesium stearate, sodium stearyl fumarate, and alkaline pH modifiers did not affect the physical and chemical stability of the API following storage at 40 °C/75% RH. HPLC, being a solution based technique, revealed chemical decomposition of the API, but the technique was insensitive to physical transformations. Excipient properties such as hygroscopicity and microenvironmental acidity were identified to be critical determinants of both physical and chemical stability of LSP in a drug product. For drugs exhibiting both physical and chemical transformations, simultaneous solid-state and solution based analyses will enable comprehensive stability evaluation.",

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Investigating the Influence of Excipients on the Stability of Levothyroxine Sodium Pentahydrate

Abstract

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Keywords

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