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Monopril HCT

What are ACE inhibitors and how do they work?

The class of drugs called angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, as the class name suggests, reduces the activity of angiotensin converting enzyme. ACE converts angiotensin I produced by the body to angiotensin II in the blood. Angiotensin II is a very potent chemical that causes the muscles surrounding blood vessels to contract and narrow the blood vessels. Narrowing of blood vessels increases the pressure within the blood vessels and may lead to high blood pressure (hypertension).

By reducing the activity of ACE, ACE inhibitors decrease the formation of angiotensin II which leads to widening (dilation) of blood vessels, and thereby reduces blood pressure. By lowering blood pressure against which the heart must pump, the amount of work that the heart must do is reduced. ACE inhibitors also reduce blood pressure in the kidneys, slowing the progression of kidney disease due to high blood p...

Monopril HCT

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OVERDOSE

To obtain up-to-date information about the treatment of overdose, a good resource is a certified Regional Poison Control Center. Telephone numbers of certified poison control centers are listed in the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR). In managing overdose, consider the possibilities of multiple-drug overdoses, drug-drug interactions, and unusual drug kinetics in your patient.

No specific information is available on the treatment of overdosage with MONOPRIL-HCT (fosinopril sodium-hydrochlorothiazide tablets); treatment should be symptomatic and supportive. Therapy with MONOPRIL-HCT should be discontinued, and the patient should be observed. Dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and hypotension should be treated by established procedures.

In rats, single oral doses of 2600 mg/kg of fosinopril were associated with significant lethality. In single-dose studies of hydrochlorothiazide, most rats survived doses of up to 2750 mg/kg. Both doses are more than 6000 times (on a mg/kg basis) the maximum recommended daily dose of either fosinopril or hydrochlorothiazide in MONOPRIL-HCT.

Data from human overdoses of fosinopril are scanty, but the most common manifestation of human fosinopril overdosage is likely to be hypotension. In human hydrochlorothiazide overdose, the most common signs and symptoms observed have been those of dehydration and electrolyte depletion (hypokalemia, hypochloremia, hyponatremia). If digitalis has also been administered, hypokalemia may accentuate cardiac arrhythmias.

Laboratory determinations of serum levels of fosinopril and its metabolites are not widely available, and such determinations have, in any event, no established role in the management of fosinopril overdose. No data are available to suggest physiological maneuvers (e.g., maneuvers to change the pH of the urine) that might accelerate elimination of fosinopril and its metabolites. Fosinoprilat is poorly removed from the body by hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

Angiotensin II could presumably serve as a specific antagonist-antidote in the setting of fosinopril overdose, but angiotensin II is essentially unavailable outside of scattered research facilities. Because the hypotensive effect of fosinopril is achieved through vasodilation and effective hypovolemia, it is reasonable to treat fosinopril overdose by infusion of normal saline solution.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

MONOPRIL-HCT is contraindicated in patients who are anuric. MONOPRIL-HCT is also contraindicated in patients who are hypersensitive to fosinopril, to any other ACE inhibitor, to hydrochlorothiazide, or other sulfonamide-derived drugs, or any other ingredient or component in the formulation. Hypersensitivity reactions are more likely to occur in patients with a history of allergy or bronchial asthma.

Last reviewed on RxList: 7/1/2009
This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.

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