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Potassium supplementation

Potassium supplementation, either in the form of medication or as a diet rich in potassium, should not ordinarily be given in association with Aldactone (spironolactone) therapy.

Excessive potassium intake may cause hyperkalemia in patients receiving Aldactone (spironolactone) (see PRECAUTIONS: General). Aldactone (spironolactone) should not be administered concurrently with other potassium-sparing diuretics. Aldactone (spironolactone) , when used with ACE inhibitors or indomethacin, even in the presence of a diuretic, has been associated with severe hyperkalemia. Extreme caution should be exercised when Aldactone (spironolactone) is given concomitantly with these drugs.

Hyperkalemia in patients with severe heart failure

Hyperkalemia may be fatal. It is critical to monitor and manage serum potassium in patients with severe heart failure receiving Aldactone (spironolactone) . Avoid using other potassium-sparing diuretics. Avoid using oral potassium supplements in patients with serum potassium > 3.5 mEq/L. RALES excluded patients with a serum creatinine > 2.5 mg/dL or a recent increase in serum creatinine > 25%. The recommended monitoring for potassium and creatinine is one week after initiation or increase in dose of Aldactone (spironolactone) , monthly for the first 3 months, then quarterly for a year, and then every 6 months. Discontinue or interrupt treatment for serum potassium > 5 mEq/L or for serum creatinine > 4 mg/dL. (See Clinical Studies, Severe heart failure, and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION, Severe heart failure.)

Aldactone (spironolactone) should be used with caution in patients with impaired hepatic function because minor alterations of fluid and electrolyte balance may precipitate hepatic coma.

Lithium generally should not be given with diuretics (see PRECAUTIONS: DRUG INTERACTIONS).

General

All patients receiving diuretic therapy should be observed for evidence of fluid or electrolyte imbalance, e.g., hypomagnesemia, hyponatremia, hypochloremic alkalosis, and hyperkalemia.

Serum and urine electrolyte determinations are particularly important when the patient is vomiting excessively or receiving parenteral fluids. Warning signs or symptoms of fluid and electrolyte imbalance, irrespective of cause, include dryness of the mouth, thirst, weakness, lethargy, drowsiness, restlessness, muscle pains or cramps, muscular fatigue, hypotension, oliguria, tachycardia, and gastrointestinal disturbances such as nausea and vomiting. Hyperkalemia may occur in patients with impaired renal function or excessive potassium intake and can cause cardiac irregularities, which may be fatal. Consequently, no potassium supplement should ordinarily be given with Aldactone (spironolactone) .

Concomitant administration of potassium-sparing diuretics and ACE inhibitors or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), e.g., indomethacin, has been associated with severe hyperkalemia.

If hyperkalemia is suspected (warning signs include paresthesia, muscle weakness, fatigue, flaccid paralysis of the extremities, bradycardia and shock), an electrocardiogram (ECG) should be obtained. However, it is important to monitor serum potassium levels because mild hyperkalemia may not be associated with ECG changes.

If hyperkalemia is present, Aldactone (spironolactone) should be discontinued immediately. With severe hyperkalemia, the clinical situation dictates the procedures to be employed. These include the intravenous administration of calcium chloride solution, sodium bicarbonate solution and/or the oral or parenteral administration of glucose with a rapid-acting insulin preparation. These are temporary measures to be repeated as required. Cationic exchange resins such as sodium polystyrene sulfonate may be orally or rectally administered. Persistent hyperkalemia may require dialysis.

Reversible hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis, usually in association with hyperkalemia, has been reported to occur in some patients with decompensated hepatic cirrhosis, even in the presence of normal renal function.

Dilutional hyponatremia, manifested by dryness of the mouth, thirst, lethargy, and drowsiness, and confirmed by a low serum sodium level, may be caused or aggravated, especially when Aldactone (spironolactone) is administered in combination with other diuretics, and dilutional hyponatremia may occur in edematous patients in hot weather; appropriate therapy is water restriction rather than administration of sodium, except in rare instances when the hyponatremia is life-threatening.

Aldactone (spironolactone) therapy may cause a transient elevation of BUN, especially in patients with preexisting renal impairment. Aldactone (spironolactone) may cause mild acidosis.

Gynecomastia may develop in association with the use of Aldactone (spironolactone) ; physicians should be alert to its possible onset. The development of gynecomastia appears to be related to both dosage level and duration of therapy and is normally reversible when Aldactone (spironolactone) is discontinued. In rare instances some breast enlargement may persist when Aldactone (spironolactone) is discontinued.

Laboratory tests

Periodic determination of serum electrolytes to detect possible electrolyte imbalance should be done at appropriate intervals, particularly in the elderly and those with significant renal or hepatic impairments.

Carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, impairment of fertility

Orally administered Aldactone (spironolactone) has been shown to be a tumorigen in dietary administration studies performed in rats, with its proliferative effects manifested on endocrine organs and the liver. In an 18-month study using doses of about 50, 150 and 500 mg/kg/day, there were statistically significant increases in benign adenomas of the thyroid and testes and, in male rats, a dose-related increase in proliferative changes in the liver (including hepatocytomegaly and hyperplastic nodules). In a 24-month study in which the same strain of rat was administered doses of about 10, 30, 100 and 150 mg Aldactone (spironolactone) /kg/day, the range of proliferative effects included significant increases in hepatocellular adenomas and testicular interstitial cell tumors in males, and significant increases in thyroid follicular cell adenomas and carcinomas in both sexes. There was also a statistically significant, but not dose-related, increase in benign uterine endometrial stromal polyps in females.

A dose-related (above 20 mg/kg/day) incidence of myelocytic leukemia was observed in rats fed daily doses of potassium canrenoate (a compound chemically similar to Aldactone (spironolactone) and whose primary metabolite, canrenone, is also a major product of Aldactone (spironolactone) in man) for a period of one year. In two-year studies in the rat, oral administration of potassium canrenoate was associated with myelocytic leukemia and hepatic, thyroid, testicular and mammary tumors.

Neither Aldactone (spironolactone) nor potassium canrenoate produced mutagenic effects in tests using bacteria or yeast. In the absence of metabolic activation, neither Aldactone (spironolactone) nor potassium canrenoate has been shown to be mutagenic in mammalian tests in vitro. In the presence of metabolic activation, Aldactone (spironolactone) has been reported to be negative in some mammalian mutagenicity tests in vitro and inconclusive (but slightly positive) for mutagenicity in other mammalian tests in vitro. In the presence of metabolic activation, potassium canrenoate has been reported to test positive for mutagenicity in some mammalian tests in vitro, inconclusive in others, and negative in still others.

In a three-litter reproduction study in which female rats received dietary doses of 15 and 50 mg Aldactone (spironolactone) /kg/day, there were no effects on mating and fertility, but there was a small increase in incidence of stillborn pups at 50 mg/kg/day. When injected into female rats (100 mg/kg/day for 7 days, i.p.), Aldactone (spironolactone) was found to increase the length of the estrous cycle by prolonging diestrus during treatment and inducing constant diestrus during a two-week post-treatment observation period. These effects were associated with retarded ovarian follicle development and a reduction in circulating estrogen levels, which would be expected to impair mating, fertility and fecundity. Aldactone (spironolactone) (100 mg/kg/day), administered i.p. to female mice during a two-week cohabitation period with untreated males, decreased the number of mated mice that conceived (effect shown to be caused by an inhibition of ovulation) and decreased the number of implanted embryos in those that became pregnant (effect shown to be caused by an inhibition of implantation), and at 200 mg/kg, also increased the latency period to mating.

Pregnancy

Teratogenic effects

Pregnancy Category C. Teratology studies with Aldactone (spironolactone) have been carried out in mice and rabbits at doses of up to 20 mg/kg/day. On a body surface area basis, this dose in the mouse is substantially below the maximum recommended human dose and, in the rabbit, approximates the maximum recommended human dose. No teratogenic or other embryotoxic effects were observed in mice, but the 20 mg/kg dose caused an increased rate of resorption and a lower number of live fetuses in rabbits. Because of its anti-androgenic activity and the requirement of testosterone for male morphogenesis, Aldactone (spironolactone) may have the potential for adversely affecting sex differentiation of the male during embryogenesis. When administered to rats at 200 mg/kg/day between gestation days 13 and 21 (late embryogenesis and fetal development), feminization of male fetuses was observed. Offspring exposed during late pregnancy to 50 and 100 mg/kg/day doses of Aldactone (spironolactone) exhibited changes in the reproductive tract including dose-dependent decreases in weights of the ventral prostate and seminal vesicle in males, ovaries and uteri that were enlarged in females, and other indications of endocrine dysfunction, that persisted into adulthood. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies with Aldactone (spironolactone) in pregnant women. Aldactone (spironolactone) has known endocrine effects in animals including progestational and antiandrogenic effects. The antiandrogenic effects can result in apparent estrogenic side effects in humans, such as gynecomastia. Therefore, the use of Aldactone (spironolactone) in pregnant women requires that the anticipated benefit be weighed against the possible hazards to the fetus.

Nursing mothers

Canrenone, a major (and active) metabolite of Aldactone (spironolactone) , appears in human breast milk. Because Aldactone (spironolactone) has been found to be tumorigenic in rats, a decision should be made whether to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother. If use of the drug is deemed essential, an alternative method of infant feeding should be instituted.

Pediatric use

Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established.

Last reviewed on RxList: 12/15/2010
This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.