Moist-heat sterilization and the chemical stability of heat-labile parenteral solutions

The impact of moist-heat sterilization (autoclaving) on the chemical stability of parenteral solutions was examined using two heat-labile products, clindamycin phosphate and succinylcholine chloride injections, as examples. A nonisothermal kinetic model was used to predict the extent of product degradation during autoclaving. The predicted results were found to be in close agreement with the experimental data. For the same peak temperature, a greater loss of product was shown by using a cycle with a higher F0. On the other hand, a higher peak-temperature cycle resulted in less product degradation for the same F0 value. The benefit of a high-temperature cycle was further illustrated by the fact that less chemical degradation for both products was produced by a 122 degrees C cycle with an F0 of 11 as compared to that which occurred during a 116.5 degrees C cycle with an F0 of 8. Although clindamycin phosphate was found to be highly unstable during a conventional autoclaving process, predicted data indicate that a UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) process may be used to sterilize this product with acceptable degradation.