Work

Lessons learned from the contamination of heparin

Year: 2009

Type: review

Abstract: Heparin is unique as one of the oldest drugs currently still in widespread clinical use as an anticoagulant, a natural product, one of the first biopolymeric drugs, and one of the few carbohydrate drugs. Recently, certain batches of heparin have been associated with anaphylactoid-type reactions, some leading to hypotension and death. These reactions were traced to contamination with a semi-synthetic oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS). This Highlight reviews the heparin contamination crisis, its resolution, and the lessons learned. Pharmaceutical scientists now must consider dozens of natural and synthetic heparinoids as potential heparin contaminants. Effective assays, which can detect both known and unknown contaminants, are required to monitor the quality of heparin. Safer and better-regulated processes are needed for heparin production.

Source: Natural Product Reports

DOI: 10.1039/b819896a

Authors: Haiying Liu, Zhenqing Zhang, Robert J. Linhardt

Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Language: English

Topic: Pharmaceutical Quality and Counterfeiting

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Center for Research Resources