FOLIDYN Folic Acid 5mg Tablet 1's
Indications/Uses
For the treatment of megaloblastic anemia due to folate deficiency.
For the prevention of neural tube defects in the offspring of women planning a pregnancy and known to be at risk.
Dosage/Direction for Use
Adults and elderly: Folate deficient megaloblastic anemia: 5 mg daily for 4 months.
Chronic hemolytic states: 5 mg every 1 to 7 days depending on underlying disease.
Children: Consider using a more suitable dosage form for children aged 12 year and below.
Pregnancy: 5 mg daily continued to term and 3 months after delivery.
Overdosage
Administration
Contraindications
Known hypersensitivity to folic acid or any of the excipients.
Special Precautions
Administering folic acid to patients with folate dependent tumors should be done with caution.
Use In Pregnancy & Lactation
Lactation: Folic acid is actively excreted in human breast milk. No harmful effects have been observed in infants breastfed by mothers taking folic acid.
Adverse Reactions
Drug Interactions
Prolonged phenytoin use induces folate deficiency. A similar mechanism may occur with other anti-seizure drugs including sodium valproate, carbamazepine and barbiturate.
Folic acid absorption may be inhibited by sulphasalazine.
The antibacterial co-trimoxazole (i.e. trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole) may interfere with folate metabolism.
Folate may enhance the efficacy of lithium therapy.
Methotrexate is a folic acid antagonist. It inhibits the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase resulting to suppression of purine and pyrimidine production during DNA synthesis. Folate deficiency may result from prolonged use of methotrexate.
Folic acid supplementation may decrease methotrexate plasma concentration.
Nitrous oxide anesthetics may induce acute folic acid deficiency. This is likely due to failure of intracellular transport and enhanced excretion of folate.
Storage
Action
Pharmacokinetics: Absorption: Folic acid is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, mainly from the duodenum and jejunum.
Distribution: Folic acid is rapidly transported to tissues after intestinal absorption. Certain plasma proteins bind with folate derivatives but affinity is greater with non-methylated analogs. The role of plasma binding proteins in folate homeostasis is poorly understood.
Metabolism: Therapeutically administered folic acid enters the portal circulation mostly unchanged. Conversion to the active form 5-methyltetrahydrofolate occurs in the liver. The liver serves as the main storage site for folate. It is also actively concentrated in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Excretion: Folate undergoes enterohepatic circulation. Folate metabolites are excreted in the urine.
Folate in excess of body requirements is eliminated unchanged in the urine.
Folate is expressed in the breast milk.
Folic acid is removed by hemodialysis.
MedsGo Class
Features
- Vit. B9 (Folic Acid)