One of the prerequisites for successful application of nuclear medicine technologies is the production and clinical use of radiopharmaceuticals (RPs) of a reliably high quality. The aim of the review is to discuss specific properties of RPs, which stipulate specific approaches to their production (or preparation) and quality control. The decisive requirement for the management of RPs at all stages of their life cycle is the observance of the radiation safety rules and regulations. The paper considers the main approaches to assessing the risks of medical radiation exposure to patients and radiation protection of nuclear medicine staff. The choice of a particular quality parameter and the corresponding analytical procedure should be made taking into account the duration of the test, which, like the production time, should be comparable with the radionuclide half-life. The feasibility of the analytical procedure should also be taken into account, given the high radioactivity of the samples tested. Now that theranostics has caught on, new approaches are being developed all over the world concerning regulatory aspects of transition from preclinical studies of RPs to clinical trials, because, according to experts, this is becoming a key condition for rapid implementation of nuclear medicine achievements. The results and conclusions of the present study can be used in the development and expert review of monographs and other specifications required for RP marketing and use. The results of the analysis suggest that it is necessary to develop specific requirements and guidelines for RP testing and evaluation for their successful promotion on the EAEU market.

In February 2017 the World Health Organization first published the list of antibiotic-resistant «priority pathogens» — a catalogue of 12 species of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. The list highlights the danger posed by Gramnegative bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. Thus, the development of new antimicrobial medicines is becoming a pressing issue. The list is an important reference point and incentive to secure and guide research and development related to new antibiotics that will help solve the issue of growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines. The aim of the study was to determine the main regulatory approaches to planning preclinical and clinical development programmes for new antimicrobial medicines. On the basis of current requirements and recommendations in force in the Russian Federation and guidelines of the European Medicines Agency, the issues of planning antimicrobial drug development programs were considered. The autors analysed the main stages and aspects of preclinical studies of medicines for infectious diseases (specific activity in vitro and in vivo, PK-PD modeling), as well as requirements for the clinical trial stage, including the rationale for the choice of clinically relevant efficacy and safety endpoints, study design, and statistical methods.

A significant share of the hepatoprotectors pharmaceutical market is represented by innovator and generic products containing essential phospholipids. One of the main issues in pharmacotherapy is confirmation of similarity between reference and generic products, which helps to assess their interchangeability. Therefore, it seems relevant to conduct comparative studies examining the products’ formulations (content of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients), dosage forms and routes of administration to identify characteristics that can affect interchangeability of essential phospholipid products. The objective of the study was to analyse interchangeability of generic and reference hepatoprotectors containing essential phospholipids. The nomenclature of essential phospholipids (oral (capsules), parenteral (solution for intravenous infusion and lyophilisate for solution for intravenous infusion), and topical (gel for cutaneous use) dosage forms) is given in accordance with the State Register of Medicinal Products, information storage and retrieval systems, and library databases (eLibrary, PubMed, CyberLeninka, ResearchGate).

There was a significant difference in the content of phosphatidylcholine (29—93 %) in phospholipid substances produced by different manufacturers; minor differences were found in the quantitative composition of excipients in solutions, and significant differences were observed in the composition and quantities of excipients in capsules, which is most likely attributed to different production methods. The obtained data may be used to optimise pharmaceutical development and assess interchangeability of essential phospholipid products.

The quality and effectiveness of preclinical trials of medicines depend on compliance with the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) principles. At the same time, the data of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the analysis of the regulatory framework suggest that the reliability and reproducibility of the results of basic biomedical research are currently a very urgent problem in medicine development. Due to the exploratory nature of studies related to confirmation of scientific hypotheses, and the variety of methodological approaches used, strict GLP criteria cannot be applied to all types of pharmacological studies. According to international acts, GLP principles have the status of requirements and regulate the quality of preclinical safety studies as represented by well-standardised «batteries of tests» used in toxicological studies and safety pharmacology studies, but they do not apply to studies of primary pharmacodynamics which determine potential therapeutic efficacy of the medicinal product. Foreign regulators recommend applying GLP principles to secondary pharmacodynamics studies as well, especially if this type of research makes an important contribution to the safety assessment of medicines. Thus, studies of pharmacological activity of medicines, which are crucial in assessing the prospects of the candidate medicine at the preclinical stage, are mostly «unregulated studies», the results of which may be incorrect. The article discusses the system of regulation of pharmacological studies, including principles of planning and implementation of these studies, as set out in recommendations on Quality Practice in Basic Biomedical Research (QPBR). The application of QPBR principles ensures reliability and reproducibility of the results of preclinical pharmacological studies and increases their scientific and practical value in the development of new medicines.

The paper provides current data on some proteins of the TGF- p family which are potentially capable of exerting a protective effect in diseases of the heart, lungs, placenta, gonads, and pancreas. The study investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of follistatin-like protein-1 (FSTL-1), one of the proteins of this family, at the cellular level. It was demonstrated that FSTL-1 is responsible for heart muscle regeneration in mammals through activation of angiogenic factors. Despite the fact that this protein plays a key role in myocardial regeneration, its concentration in the epicardium decreases immediately after a heart attack, which hampers effective self-repair of the heart. The paper summarises the results of studies of the efficacy of intravenous administration of FSTL-1 in rats with myocardial infarction. However, the administration of a foreign protein can cause allergic reactions, therefore a drug that induces FSTL-1 secretion was chosen instead.

The aim of the study was to provide experimental substantiation of the possibility of exogenous regulation of FSTL-1 secretion.

Materials and methods: FSTL-1 concentration in rat plasma was assessed by enzyme immunoassay before and after treatment with the antioxidant drug ethyl methyl hydroxypyridine malate. The antioxidant was administered to 15 healthy male Wistar rats subcutaneously 3 times a day at a dose of 6 mg/day for 14 days. A fasting blood sample was obtained on the first day before administration of the drug and on day 15.

Results: after the period of treatment with ethyl methyl hydroxypyridine malate the concentration of FSTL-1 in the plasma of the laboratory rats increased significantly (p = 0.0011) to reach 0.92 ± 0.11 ng/mL as compared to the initial concentration of 0.48 ± 0.04 ng/mL.

Conclusion: the study provided experimental evidence for new properties of ethyl methyl hydroxypyridine malate, i.e. induction of FSTL-1 in healthy rats. Further studies are encouraged to assess potential use of this drug as an inductor of FSTL-1 in myocardial ischemia.

This work is a continuation of research on the use of X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) for identification of medicines that exhibit polymorphism.

The aim of the paper was to perform comparative XRD analysis of linezolid samples produced by different manufacturers.

Materials and methods: the measurements were performed using an Empyrean X-ray powder diffraction system (PANalytical, Netherlands) with an X’Celerator linear solid-state detector using Ni-filtered CuKa radiation. The results were recorded at 1.5406 and 1.5444 А with the intensity ratio in the doublet of 2:1. The two-phase Rietveld refinement of the obtained diffractograms was used for the quantitative analysis.

Results: the authors compared diffractograms of three commercial samples of linezolid. The revealed differences were analysed taking into consideration available literature on the polymorphic forms of linezolid. It was demonstrated that only forms II and IV should be considered as different polymorphs of linezolid.

Conclusions: the study demonstrated that linezolid samples produced by different manufacturers could represent different polymorphs or mixtures thereof. The evaluation of linezolid quality by X-ray diffraction analysis requires the comparison of the obtained results with the diffractogram of the form IV reference standard. Relevant information should be provided by manufacturers in the product specification file.

The quality control of the «Valerian rhizome and roots» herbal substance is carried out using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) according to the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, XIV edition. The quantitative analysis of the active ingredients in valerian tincture is performed using a non-specific and non-selective spectrophotometric method. Therefore, it is important to introduce in Russia a more modern test procedure for quantitative determination of active ingredients in valerian tincture.

The aim of the study was to develop a selective and sensitive HPLC procedure for quantitative determination of the total content of sesquiterpenic acids, expressed as valerenic acid, for the purpose of valerian tincture standardisation.

Materials and methods: valerian tincture samples produced by seven Russian manufacturers were used as test samples, and valerenic acid was used as the reference standard. The quantitative analysis of the active ingredients was performed by two methods: spectrophotometry at 512 nm following the reaction of valerenic acid ethylester with hydroxyalamine and ferric chloride, and by HPLC using a Nucleosil C18 column, 125×4.6 mm, 5 µm particle size, in gradient elution mode, with detection at 220 nm.

Results: the spectrophotometric technique was shown to be insufficiently specific. The authors of the study validated the chromatographic test procedure, established system suitability criteria, and compared the results obtained by the two test procedures. They also determined a tentative standard of the total content of sesquiterpenic acids, expressed as valerenic acid, obtained by HPLC.

Conclusions: the HPLC assay developed for quantitative determination of active ingredients in valerian tincture is more specific as compared to the spectrophotometric technique, as the sum of the peaks of valerenic and acetoxyvalerenic acids and the results for the reference standard are taken into account during calculations. The new test procedure is in line with the cross-cutting standardisation principle and can be recommended for inclusion into the draft monograph «Valerian tincture».

Chronic toxicity studies are an integral part of the overall toxicological evaluation of drug candidates. Biochemical studies of blood and urine serve to describe the general picture of the animal’s condition and to trace the dynamics of laboratory markers of organ damage after repeated administration of the drug — both for a group of animals, as well as individually. Pathomorphological studies of organs and tissues make it possible to understand the nature of damage at the cellular level. A systemic analysis of the data obtained allows for accurate identification of the body systems that are most susceptible to the toxic effect of the drug, as well as for assessment of the degree of impact and the reversibility of effects. Considering the great importance of the obtained pharmacological information, it is necessary to pay special attention to proper methodological implementation of all the stages of preparation and performance of the mentioned studies, as well as to proper analysis and interpretation of the data. The aim of the paper was to summarise the methodology of biochemical and pathomorphological studies based on the experience obtained in the Drug Toxicology Laboratory of the Federal State Budgetary Institute «Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology» when conducting chronic toxicity studies.