Polyoxyl castor oil

General information

Polyoxyl castor oil (polyethoxylated castor oil, Kolliphor EL, or Cremophor EL) is prepared by reacting ethylene oxide with castor oil in a ratio of 35:1. This results in a compound in which the hydroxyl groups of the castor oil triglyceride are ethoxylated, forming polyethylene glycol ethers [ ]. It has been used as a pharmaceutical solvent for many drugs, such as artemisinin derivatives [ ], ciclosporin [ ], clotrimazole [ ], diazepam [ , ], docetaxel [ ], ixabepilone [ ], miconazole [ ], paclitaxel [ ], propanidid [ ], propofol [ ], teniposide [ ], thiamine [ ], vitamin K [ ], and multivitamins [ ]. It has also been co-administered with anticancer drugs, such as doxorubicin, in the hope that it would inhibit the multidrug resistance transporters [ ].

Althesin was a proprietary formulation containing a mixture of two steroid anesthetics, alfadolone and alfaxolone. This formulation was withdrawn because of concerns about the solvent in which it was prepared, polyoxyl castor oil [ , ].

Organs and systems