Nanoparticulate impurities in the pharmaceutical excipient trehalose induce an early immune response

Pharmaceutical excipients are an important part of biological products. However, few attempts have been made to distinguish between the risk of inflammation associated with the biological products themselves and that associated with excipients. The analysis of early immune response risk associated with excipients added to biological products is an important step in exploring the complex mechanism of side effects in susceptible patients.

In this study, nanoparticle impurities (NPIs) were extracted from trehalose and characterized. A mouse popliteal lymph node cell (PLNA) model, a mouse spleen lymphocyte model, a human peripheral blood mononuclear cell cytokine release model, and a macrophage complement activation model were established to comprehensively evaluate the early immune risk related to impurities in the trehalose excipient. Although popliteal lymph node cell counts in mice did not show significant differences, all other models indicated possible immune risk. In the PLNA model, NPIs caused significant toe thickening in mice, whereby the content of IgE and MCP-1 increased significantly. NPIs significantly increased the proliferation and differentiation of spleen lymphocytes according to the CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. After treatment with NPIs, the release of IgE and a variety of cytokines (MIP-1α, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-8, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1α) in human peripheral blood cells was significantly increased according to ELISA, while a concomitant increase of C3a/C5a as well as C4a/Bb proved that NPIs activated the complement system.

NPIs from trehalose elicited an immune response in vitro, and the immune response to trehalose may be related to NPIs and not the excipient itself. Different batches of trehalose showed different immune response effects. The currents research suggests that when trehalose is applied in high-risk administration routes, NPIs should be assessed and reasonably controlled.