Degradation of lyophilized and reconstituted MACROSCINT (DTPA-IgG): precipitation vs. glucosylation

Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic anhydride (DTPA) conjugated to IgG (DTPA-IgG) and labeled with 111In is useful for detecting focal sites of infection and inflammation (R.H. Rubin, A.J. Fischman, R.J. Callahan, B. Khaw, F. Keech, M. Ahmad, R. Wilkinson and H.W. Strauss, 111In-labeled nonspecific immunoglobulin scanning in the detection of focal infection, N. Engl. J. Med., 321 (1989) 935-940). MACROSCINT contains DTPA-IgG formulated as a lyophile from a citrate buffer containing maltose. Exposure of both reconstituted and lyophilized MACROSCINT to intense light resulted in degradation primarily via formation of precipitating aggregates. However, lyophilized and reconstituted MACROSCINT responded differently to thermal stress. Reconstituted MACROSCINT subjected to thermal stress (65 degrees C) also degraded through formation of precipitating aggregates. In contrast, exposure of lyophilized MACROSCINT to thermal stress (65 degrees C) resulted primarily in an increase in the molecular size of the MACROSCINT DTPA-IgG monomer. This increase in molecular size was a function of both the moisture content in the vial and the amount of time for which the sample was stressed, but was not a function of the conjugation with DTPA. Monosaccharide analysis of the samples demonstrated that this increase in molecular size corresponded to an increase in the amount of glucose covalently attached to the IgG. These data suggest that the increase in molecular size as a function of thermal stress is due to the covalent attachment of maltose, which is a glucose disaccharide present in the lyophile as an excipient, to the IgG. This degradation pathway was only observed in the lyophile.