Analysis of Current Approaches to Monitoring the Content of Depressor Substances

INTRODUCTION . Raw materials of biological origin can contaminate medicines with depressor substances, such as histamine, acetylcholine, bradykinin, serotonin, and prostaglandins. In the Russian Federation, tests for the content of these impurities are conducted in anaesthetised healthy cats in accordance with the General Chapter Test for depressor substances of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation. The global trend towards ending animal testing and the search for ways to eliminate animal tests for depressor substances motivate researchers to study international approaches to the determination of histamine-like substances. AIM . This study aimed to analyse Russian and international approaches to the control of biologicals for depressor substances and to consider the applicability of alternative instrument-based physicochemical methods for the determination of histamine-like impurities, with a view to reducing animal testing. DISCUSSION . The rationale for reducing the use of animals as test systems is set forth in Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. In 2023, the European Pharmacopoeia Commission initiated the removal of in vivo tests for histamine-like substances from the European Pharmacopoeia. However, China and India use animal testing as the basic method for assessing the safety of medicines. In the Russian Federation, the control of depressor substances is regulated under General Chapter 1.2.4.0008.18 of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation. Since the publication of General Chapter 42-0063-07 Test for histamine in edition XII in 2007, the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation has included a compendial text providing for a reduction in the number of cats used for testing. At present, Russian scientists are searching for targeted physicochemical and immunochemical methods for the determination of depressor substances. It has been demonstrated that a reasonable approach is to assess the need for testing a particular medicinal product in animals on a case-by-case basis. This approach will help minimise the number of in vivo tests and maintain an adequate quality of medicines at the same time. CONCLUSIONS . Despite the global trend towards ending animal testing, it is still necessary and required to control medicines for the content of depressor substances. Nevertheless, there is no global consensus on the need to use animals for this purpose. The absence of a separate general chapter/monograph, or references to it, will not change the fact that histamine-like substances are controlled worldwide. The decision to exclude in vivo methods from the European Pharmacopoeia necessitates the search for alternative test methods and the implementation of additional manufacturing controls to minimise the contamination risk for finished medicinal products. Studies have shown that high-performance liquid chromatography can determine the content of histamine in a limited amount of a medicinal product.