[Application of a bacterial endotoxin test for parenteral drugs]

The Limulus test, which has been adopted as the Test for Bacterial Endotoxins in the JP XII, can detect or quantitate endotoxins of Gram-negative bacterial origin using blood corpuscle extracts (Limulus amebocyte lysate, LAL) of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus, Tachypleus tridentatus, etc.). It may be conducted by the gel-clot or spectrophotometric (turbidimetric and colorimetric) techniques, the former being based on gel formation due to the activation of LAL by endotoxins. The turbidimetric technique is based on the LAL turbidity change during the gel formation and the colorimetric technique on activation of peptide hydrolytic enzymes in LAL. The Limulus test has been unofficially utilized as a simple and highly sensitive method for the determination of endotoxins in parenteral drugs in lieu of the in vivo Pyrogen Test using rabbits. For the Bacterial Endotoxins Test of the JP XII, the gel-clot technique alone was adopted, the technique being only allowed for Injection. Although most parenteral drugs show inhibition or enhancement in practice, this test can be most easily conducted by eliminating interfering effects through dilution of specimens by a factor not exceeding the maximum valid dilution (MVD) with water. Since MVD is dependent on the sensitivity of applied methodology, the turbidimetric and colorimetric techniques, which are more sensitive than the gel-clot technique, have a distinct advantage. The JP, as the leading Pharmacopoeia for the international harmonization of Bacterial Endotoxins Testing, has presented a "Draft towards International Harmonization of Bacterial Endotoxins Test", whose main purpose is the introduction of supplementary turbidimetric and colorimetric techniques. Under these circumstances the following subjects are discussed: (1) the proposal that, with a view towards international harmonization of the technical requirements of Pharmacopoeias, both the turbidimetric and colorimetic techniques should be included together with the gel-clot technique, (2) the differences in the testing principles and/or conditions prescribed in the current Bacterial Endotoxins Test of JP, USP and EP, and (3) the worldwide situation for Endotoxin Reference Standards.