STABILITY OF HUMAN RECOMBINANT EPOETIN ALFA IN COMMONLY USED NEONATALINTRAVENOUS SOLUTIONS

OBJECTIVE: To measure epoetin alfa concentrations after adding it to a variety of commonly used neonatal intravenous fluids to determine the stability of epoetin alfa over time. DESIGN: Epoetin alfa was added t o the following fluids: sterile water; NaCl 0.9%; dextrose 10% in wate r; dextrose 10% with albumin at concentrations of 0.01%, 0.05%, and 0. 1%; and total parenteral nutrition solution containing either 0.5% or 2.25% amino acids. The fluid was administered through intravenous tubi ng, a T-connector, and catheter, and samples were collected at 0, 2, 4 , 8, and 24 hours. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Epoetin alfa concentrations were compared with the measured original preinfusion concentration and recorded as the percentage recovered. RESULTS: Concentrations decline d significantly in all fluids containing less than 0.05% protein, but remained stable over 24 hours in fluids containing 0.05% or more prote in. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that epoetin alfa should be mixed in intr avenous fluids containing at least 0.05% protein.