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Pentasa (Mesalamine) - Warnings and Precautions

 
 



PRECAUTIONS

General
Caution should be exercised if PENTASA is administered to patients with impaired hepatic function.
Mesalamine has been associated with an acute intolerance syndrome that may be difficult to distinguish from a flare of inflammatory bowel disease. Although the exact frequency of occurrence cannot be ascertained, it has occurred in 3% of patients in controlled clinical trials of mesalamine or sulfasalazine. Symptoms include cramping, acute abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea, sometimes fever, headache, and rash. If acute intolerance syndrome is suspected, prompt withdrawal is required. If a rechallenge is performed later in order to validate the hypersensitivity, it should be carried out under close medical supervision at reduced dose and only if clearly needed.

Renal
Caution should be exercised if PENTASA is administered to patients with impaired renal function. Single reports of nephrotic syndrome and interstitial nephritis associated with mesalamine therapy have been described in the foreign literature. There have been rare reports of interstitial nephritis in patients receiving PENTASA. In animal studies, a 13-week oral toxicity study in mice and 13-week and 52-week oral toxicity studies in rats and cynomolgus monkeys have shown the kidney to be the major target organ of mesalamine toxicity. Oral daily doses of 2400 mg/kg in mice and 1150 mg/kg in rats produced renal lesions including granular and hyaline casts, tubular degeneration, tubular dilation, renal infarct, papillary necrosis, tubular necrosis, and interstitial nephritis. In cynomolgus monkeys, oral daily doses of 250 mg/kg or higher produced nephrosis, papillary edema, and interstitial fibrosis. Patients with preexisting renal disease, increased BUN or serum creatinine, or proteinuria should be carefully monitored, especially during the initial phase of treatment. Mesalamine-induced nephrotoxicity should be suspected in patients developing renal dysfunction during treatment.

CARCINOGENESIS & MUTAGENESIS & IMPAIRMENT OF FERTILITY

In a 104-week dietary carcinogenicity study of mesalamine, CD-1 mice were treated with doses up to 2500 mg/kg/day and it was not tumorigenic. For a 50 kg person of average height (1.46 m2 body surface area), this represents 2.5 times the recommended human dose on a body surface area basis (2960 mg/m2/day). In a 104-week dietary carcinogenicity study in Wistar rats, mesalamine up to a dose of 800 mg/kg/day was not tumorigenic. This dose represents 1.5 times the recommended human dose on a body surface area basis.
No evidence of mutagenicity was observed in an in vitro Ames test and in an in vivo mouse micronucleus test.
No effects on fertility or reproductive performance were observed in male or female rats at oral doses of mesalamine up to 400 mg/kg/day (0.8 times the recommended human dose based on body surface area).
Semen abnormalities and infertility in men, which have been reported in association with sulfasalazine, have not been seen with PENTASA capsules during controlled clinical trials.

PREGNANCY

Category B. Reproduction studies have been performed in rats at doses up to 1000 mg/kg/day (5900 mg/M2) and rabbits at doses of 800 mg/kg/day (6856 mg/M2) and have revealed no evidence of teratogenic effects or harm to the fetus due to mesalamine. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, PENTASA should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.
Mesalamine is known to cross the placental barrier.

NURSING MOTHERS

Minute quantities of mesalamine were distributed to breast milk and amniotic fluid of pregnant women following sulfasalazine therapy. When treated with sulfasalazine at a dose equivalent to 1.25 g/day of mesalamine, 0.02to 0.08and trace amounts of mesalamine were measured in amniotic fluid and breast milk, respectively. N-acetylmesalamine, in quantities of 0.07to 0.77and 1.13to 3.44was identified in the same fluids, respectively.
Caution should be exercised when PENTASA is administered to a nursing woman.
No controlled studies with PENTASA during breast-feeding have been carried out. Hypersensitivity reactions like diarrhea in the infant cannot be excluded.

PEDIATRIC USE

Safety and efficacy of PENTASA in pediatric patients have not been established.

Page last updated: 2011-10-04

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