Protective effect of sucrose on spray drying of oxyhemoglobin.

As far as we know, spray drying has previously not been applied to oxyhemoglobin, undoubtedly because of the sensitivity of oxyhemoglobin to temperature and oxidation. Our experience with freeze drying encouraged us to perform spray-drying trials in order to compare the results of the two methods, in the absence and the presence of protective compounds. Spray drying of hemoglobin without a protective compound led, as in freeze drying, to formation of a percentage of methemoglobin (50%) that makes it unsuitable for transporting oxygen. In the presence of 0.25 M sucrose (optimum) and at 80-100 degrees C, the functional properties of the hemoglobin were well preserved (methemoglobin approximately 4%), and the residual humidity was limited to approximately 3%. Structural investigation by optical circular dichroism confirmed the results obtained by freeze drying: in the presence of an effective protector, the spectra were similar to those of control hemoglobin and the immediate environment of the heme did not undergo any major change. Electron spin resonance absorption bands in all samples were similar for each value of the spectral decomposition factor, g. This suggests that the structure of the heme is not altered by desiccation and that the protector does not penetrate into the heme pocket since it would have disturbed the symmetry of the crystalline field. Fundamentally, these results are equivalent or similar to those observed with freeze drying; since spray drying is a different process of dehydration, the results indicate a lack of specificity in the phenomena of oxidation or of protection affecting hemoglobin.