Peptide treatment is becoming increasingly popular for its ability to stimulate the skin’s production of collagen, improve elasticity and reduce fine lines. While peptides are not considered drugs, they can be harmful if incorrectly handled or if the user isn’t properly trained. Therefore, it’s important to follow the highest health and safety standards when handling peptides. Here are a few tips that will help you do this safely and effectively:
Peptides are hygroscopic and prone to deliquescence when exposed to moisture. This can lead to degradation of the peptide and loss of activity. To avoid this, peptides should be stored in refrigerated conditions, kept sealed after reconstitution and handled in a dry inert atmosphere.
To ensure that peptides are safe to use, they should be supplied in lyophilized form. This is because peptides can be unstable in solution due to the presence of counter-ions and residual moisture, which can lead to significant changes in the peptide structure and properties.
USP peptide reference standards are produced in both powdered and lyophilized form and are thoroughly tested to establish their identity and stability. In order to determine the content per vial of a lyophilized peptide reference standard, bulk material is accurately weighed and solubilized to produce an identity sample solution. This is then analyzed by HPLC against an established reference standard to confirm that the retention time of the major peak matches the reference.
The resulting data is then analyzed statistically to assign the label value of the peptide per vial, which allows the reference standard to be used as an official quality control tool for the subsequent manufacture of drug substance and drug product. The article also discusses the physical tests that are performed to evaluate the quality of a peptide filling operation, including particle size distribution and mean dry weight, as well as methods for determining moisture and headspace oxygen levels non-destructively.direct peptides