Affiliations: Department of Pharmacy, Valvert Hospital, 13391 Marseilles Cedex 11, France | Department of Biotechnical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, 13385 Marseilles Cedex 05, France
Note: [] Corresponding author: Ch.B. Airaudo, Department of Pharmacy, Valvert Hospital, bd des Libérateurs, 13391 Marseilles Cedex 11, France. Tel.: 33‐4‐91‐87‐67‐23; Fax: 33‐4‐91‐87‐67‐26.
Abstract: The stability of two antidepressant drugs, clomipramine and viloxazine hydrochlorides, was studied as was their possible sorption on Stedim 6^{\hbox{\psyrf\char210}}, a new multilayer polyethylene‐lined film, which was considered comparatively to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and glass surfaces. Appropriate amounts of the drugs were added to 500 ml of 5% dextrose and 0.9% sodium chloride solutions in Stedim 6^{\hbox{\psyrf\char210}} and PVC bags, and in glass flasks, in order to obtain the concentrations currently used in clinical practice. All the containers were stored at room temperature in daylight for 72 hours. Samples were taken at various times and evaluated for remaining drug concentrations by UV spectrometry. The two drugs appeared stable under the given conditions. No concentration decrease was observed in glass flasks. Viloxazine hydrochloride showed an excellent compatibility with the PVC bags, but a slight concentration decrease (about 6–7% in 72 hours) was observed for clomipramine hydrochloride, depending on the contact duration. The compatibility of the two drugs with the new material Stedim 6^{\hbox{\psyrf\char210}} was found to be perfect. The behavioral differences observed between the two drugs with regard to PVC are explained in terms of differences of lipophilicity of the drugs. Those observed for a given drug with regard to the two materials are due to the crystalline structure of polyethylene and the amorphous one of PVC.
