Indications/Uses
Dosage/Direction for Use
Similar doses are given in the treatment of stable angina and Prinzmetal's angina or as prescribed by the physician.
Administration
Contraindications
Warnings
Special Precautions
Losartan is contraindicated in pregnancy and should be used with care, if at all, during breast feeding. It should be used with caution in patients with renal artery stenosis. Reduced doses may be required in patients with renal impairment and should be considered in patients with hepatic impairment. Patients with volume depletion (for example those who have received high-dose diuretic therapy) may experience hypotension, which may be minimized by initiating treatment with a low dose of Losartan. Since hyperkalemia may occur, serum-potassium concentrations should be monitored, especially in the elderly and patients with renal impairment, and the concomitant use of potassium-sparing diuretics should generally be avoided.
Adverse Reactions
The most common adverse effects are associated with its vasodilator action and often diminish on continued therapy. They include dizziness, flushing, headache, hypotension, peripheral edema, tachycardia and palpitations. Nausea and other gastrointestinal disturbances, increased micturition frequency, lethargy, eye pain, and mental depression have also occurred. A paradoxical increase in ischaemic chest pain may occur at the start of treatment and in a few patients excessive fall in blood pressure has led to cerebral or myocardial ischaemia or transient blindness. There have been reports of rashes (including erythema multiforme), fever, and abnormalities in liver function, including cholestasis, due to hyperplasia, myalgia, tremor and impotence have been reported.
Overdose maybe associated with bradycardia and hypotension.
Storage
Action
Losartan is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract following oral administration, with an oral bioavailability of about 33%. It undergoes first-pass metabolism to form an active carboxylic acid metabolite E-3174 (EXP-3174), which has greater pharmacological activity than Losartan, and some inactive metabolites. Metabolism is primarily by cytochrome P450 isoenzymes CYP2C9 and CYP3A4. Peak plasma concentrations of Losartan and E-3174 occur about 1 hour and 3 to 4 hours, respectively, after an oral dose. Both Losartan and E-3174 are more than 98% bound to plasma proteins. Losartan is excreted in the urine, and in the faeces via bile, as unchanged drug and metabolites. Following oral dosing about 35% of the dose if excreted in the urine and about 60% in the faeces. The terminal elimination half-lives of Losartan and E-3174 are about 1.5 to 2.5 hours and 3 to 9 hours, respectively.
MedsGo Class
Features
- Amlodipine
- Losartan Potassium