Cremophor EL

Cremophor EL® is the registered trademark of BASF Corp. for its version of polyethoxylated castor oil. It is prepared by reacting 35 moles of ethylene oxide with each mole of castor oil. The resulting product is a mixture (CAS number 61791-12-6): the major component is the material in which the hydroxyl groups of the castor oil triglyceride have ethoxylated with ethylene oxide to form polyethylene glycol ethers. Minor components are the polyethyelene glycol esters of ricinoleic acid, polyethyelene glycols and polyethyelene glycol ethers of glycerol.^[1] . Cremophor EL is a synthetic, nonionic surfactant. Its utility comes from its ability to stabilize emulsions of nonpolar materials in aqueous systems.

Additional recommended knowledge

Weighing the right way

How to quickly check pipettes?

Correct Test Weight Handling Guide: 12 Practical Tips

Cremophor EL is an excipient or additive in drugs. Therapeutically, modern drugs are rarely given in a pure chemical state, so most active ingredients are combined with excipients or additives such as Cremophor EL ^[2]

Uses

• Miconazole, anti-fungal
• Paclitaxel, anti-cancer
• Aci-Jel (acetic acid / oxyquinoline / ricinoleic acid - vaginal)
• Sandimmune (cyclosporine injection, USP)
• Nelfinavir mesylate, HIV protese inhibitor

Cremophor EL is used in Taxol (paclitaxel) and has been called as a dose limiting agent because of its toxicities. (A formulation of paclitaxel that uses nanoparticle albumin instead of Cremophor EL is marketed as an alternative.^[3][4])

See also

• Castor oil

References

1. ^ BASF Technical data sheet on Cremophor EL®. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
2. ^ A new Steroid Anaaesthetic - Althesin (pdf). PubMed. Retrieved on 2007-01-07. See page 1/49, Methods and Materials.
3. ^ Desai N, Yao Z, Trieu V, Soon-Shiong P, Dykes D, Noker P. Evidence of greater tumor and red cell partitioning and superior antitumor activity of Cremophor free nanoparticle paclitaxel (ABI-007) compared to taxol. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2003;82(suppl 1):S83. Abstract 348.
4. ^ O'Shaughnessy J, Tjulandin S, Davidson N, et al. ABI-007 (ABRAXANE™), a nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab) paclitaxel demonstrates superior efficacy vs taxol in metastatic breast cancer: A Phase III Trial. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2003;82(suppl 1). Abstract 43. [1]