Abstract
The effect of excipients on the protein stability during lyophilization as well as the storage stability of lyophilized bilirubin oxidase (BO) andβ-galactosidase (GA) formulations were studied using four polymer excipients : dextran, polyvinylalcohol (PVA), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), and α, β-poly(N-hydroxyehyl)-L-aspartamide (PHEA). Denaturation of BO and GA during lyophilization largely depended on the excipient used. Dextran appeared to cause severe damage to proteins, whereas PHEA protected proteins effectively from denaturation. Storage stability of BO and GA formulatinas also depended on the excipients. such that the formulations containing dextran and PAA were relatively unstable. Storage stability was improved by absorption of a small amount of water for all the formulations studied. Absorption of a larger amount of water, however, decreased the storage stability of the formulatins containing PVA, PAA or PHEA. In contrast, the storage stability of formulations containing dextran did not decrease noticeably with increasing water. This may be because formulations containing dextran have a higher glass transition temperature than formulations containing PVA, PAA or PHEA when a large amount of water is absorbed.
