Evidence-Based Hospital Formulation (EBHF) from the University

Abstract

“The hospital formulation” is medicine which hospital pharmacists prepare when doctors cannot provide the medical therapy most suitable for a patient using commercial pharmaceuticals. However, as the responsibilities of pharmacists are increasing, the ability of provide hospital formulations is increasing. The development of evidence-based hospital formulations is thus limited. Especially, the expiration date and storage conditions are very important issue to assure the quality of hospital formulations. In this review, we would like to introduce the retinoic acid gel composed of iota-carrageenan, polyethylene oxide and Emulgen^® 408 as an example of the evidence-based hospital formulation. All-trans retinoic acid (RA) gels formulated with various compositions of polyethylene oxide (Emulgen®) and iota-carrageenan (ι-CG) were prepared and their physicochemical properties were evaluated. The compression energy, which is the work required to compress the product through a fixed distance, increased with increasing amount of ι-CG or Emulgen®. The adhesion energy and displacement decreased with increasing amount of ι-CG or Emulgen® due to the progression of gel formation. From the results of the sensory tests, the properties of RA gels such as adhesiveness, gel strength and spreadability seemed to be adjustable depending on the condition of skin by varying the components of RA gels. Through photostability study, the expiration date and storage conditions of RA gels were determined as “4℃ for 28d with no exposure to light.”