Development of an in-house reference standard for anti-rabies immunoglobulin potency, to be used in the virus neutralisation test in a Vero cell culture

The development and use of new methods of quality control of medicines involve the use of a lot of reference materials in quality control testing. Specialists of the Russian Research Antiplague Institute “Microbe” have proposed an alternative methodological approach to determination of potency of anti-rabies immunoglobulin in cell culture, which requires the development of an in-house reference standard (RS) certified against the biological reference preparation (BRP) of the European Pharmacopoeia human rabies immunoglobulin. The aim of the study was to develop and evaluate the metrological characteristics of an in-house RS for anti-rabies immunoglobulin potency, to be used in the virus neutralisation test in a Vero cell culture. Materials and methods: The following materials were used in the study: equine rabies immunoglobulin, Vero continuous cell culture, fixed rabies virus (Moscow 3253_Vero strain), human rabies immunoglobulin BRP of the European Pharmacopoeia. The potencies of the candidate in-house RS and rabies immunoglobulin samples were determined in the neutralisation test in cell culture. The results were recorded using a fluorescent microscope. Statistical processing was carried out in accordance with general chapter 1.1.0014.15 of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, 14th edition. Results: the certified value of the in-house RS potency was 180.8±18.8 IU/mL. The confidence limits were determined at the 0.95 probability level. The shelf life of the in-house RS is 1.5 years (when stored according to the sanitary regulation SanPiN 3.3686-21). The certified in-house RS was assigned with the number 41-01-20. A set of technical and operational documentation was developed and approved for the in-house RS. The developed in-house RS can be used for in vitro determination of anti-rabies immunoglobulin potency, expressed in international units, to confirm its compliance with the product specification file. Conclusions: the authors developed an in-house RS for anti-rabies immunoglobulin potency, to be used in the virus neutralisation test in cell culture, certified against the human rabies immunoglobulin BRP of the European Pharmacopoeia.

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