Cabergoline 1a Farma
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SUMMARY OF PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS
1. NAME OF THE MEDICINAL PRODUCT
Cabergoline 1A Farma, 3 mg, tablets
2. QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE COMPOSITION
Cabergoline 1A Farma, 3 mg, tablets: Each tablet contains 3 mg cabergoline.
Excipient(s):
Cabergoline 1A Farma, 3 mg, tablets: Each tablet contains 226.2 mg anhydrous lactose
For a full list of excipients, see section 6.1.
3. PHARMACEUTICAL form
Tablet
Cabergoline 1A Farma, 3 mg, tablets: White, round biconvex uncoated tablet with
tripartite score line on both sides.Diameter 8.6 – 9.1 mm.
The tablet can be divided into three equal parts.See section 4.2 for detailed information.
4. Clinical particulars
4.1 Therapeutic indications
Treatment of Parkinson's disease.
If treatment with a dopamine agonist is being considered, cabergoline is indicated as second line therapy in patients who are intolerant or fail treatment with a non-ergot compound, as monotherapy, or as adjunctive treatment to levodopa plus dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor, in the management of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Treatment should be initiated under specialist supervision. The benefit of continued treatment should be regularly reassessed taking into account the risk of fibrotic reactions and valvulopathy (see sections 4.3, 4.4 and 4.8).
4.2 Posology and method of administration
Cabergoline is to be administered by the oral route. In order to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal undesirable effects it is recommended that cabergoline is taken with meals for all therapeutic indications.
The maximum dose is 3 mg cabergoline per day.
The tablet can be divided into equal thirds by pressing with the thumb on the middle of the tablet. The tablet must lay on a hard, flat surface with the deeply scored side at the top.
Adults and elderly patients
As expected for dopamine agonists, dose response for both efficacy and undesirable effects appears to be linked to individual sensitivity. Optimization of dose should be obtained through slow initial dose titration, from starting doses of 0.5 mg cabergoline (de novo patients) and 1 mg cabergoline (patients on levodopa) daily. The dosage of concurrent levodopa may be gradually decreased, while the dosage of cabergoline is increased, until the optimum balance is determined. In view of the long half-life of the compound, increments of the daily dose of 0.5-1 mg cabergoline should be made at weekly (initial weeks) or bi-weekly intervals, up to optimal doses.
The recommended therapeutic dosage is 2 to 3 mg cabergoline /day as adjuvant therapy to levodopa/carbidopa. Cabergoline should be given as a single daily dose.
Use in children and adolescents
The safety and efficacy of cabergoline have not been investigated in children or adolescents as Parkinson's disease does not affect this population.
Use in patients with hepatic or renal dysfunction
For patients with severe hepatic dysfunction or end stage renal failure see section 4.4.
4.3 Contraindications
Hypersensitivity to cabergoline, other ergot alkaloids or to any of the excipients.
Pre-eclampsia, eclampsia.
Uncontrolled hypertension.
History of pulmonary, pericardial and retroperitoneal fibrotic disorders.
For long-term treatment: Evidence of cardiac valvulopathy as determined by pre-treatment echocardiography.
4.4 Special warnings and precautions for use
General
The assessment of safety and efficacy of cabergoline is limited in patients with renal and hepatic disease. As with other ergot alkaloids, cabergoline should be given with caution to subjects with severe cardiovascular disease, hypotension, Raynaud's syndrome, peptic ulcer or gastrointestinal bleeding.The effects of alcohol on overall tolerability of cabergoline are currently unknown.
Cabergoline should be given with caution to patients with a history of psychotic disorders, a history of serious or psychotic mental disease or where there is a risk of post-partum psychosis.
Fibrosis and cardiac valvulopathy and possibly related clinical phenomena:
Fibrotic and serosal inflammatory disorders such as pleuritis, pleural effusion, pleural fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pericarditis, pericardial effusion, cardiac valvulopathy involving one or more valves (aortic, mitral and tricuspid) or retroperitoneal fibrosis have occurred after prolonged usage of ergot derivatives with agonist activity at the serotonin 5HT2B receptor, such as cabergoline. In some cases, symptoms or manifestations of cardiac valvulopathy improved after discontinuation of cabergoline.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) has been found to be abnormally increased in association with pleural effusion/fibrosis. Chest x-ray examination is recommended in cases of unexplained ESR increases to abnormal values. Serum creatinine measurements can also be used to help in the diagnosis of fibrotic disorder. Following diagnosis of pleural effusion/pulmonary fibrosis or valvulopathy, the discontinuance of cabergoline has been reported to result in improvement of signs and symptoms (see section 4.3).
Valvulopathy has been associated with cumulative doses, therefore, patients should be treated with the lowest effective dose. At each visit, the risk benefit profile of cabergoline treatment for the patient should be reassessed to determine the suitability of continued treatment with cabergoline.
Before initiating long-term treatment:
All patients must undergo a cardiovascular evaluation, including echocardiogram, to assess the potential presence of asymptomatic valvular disease. It is also appropriate to perform baseline investigations of erythrocyte sedimentation rate or other inflammatory markers, lung function/chest X-ray and renal function prior to initiation of therapy.
In patients with valvular regurgitation, it is not known whether cabergoline treatment might worsen the underlying disease. If fibrotic valvular disease is detected, the patient should not be treated with cabergoline (see section 4.3).
During long-term treatment:
Fibrotic disorders can have an insidious onset and patients should be regularly monitored for possible manifestations of progressive fibrosis.
Therefore, during treatment, attention should be paid to the signs and symptoms of:
-
Pleuro-pulmonary disease such as dyspnoea, shortness of breath, persistent cough or chest pain.
-
Renal insufficiency or ureteral/abdominal vascular obstruction that may occur with pain in the loin/flank and lower limb oedema as well as any possible abdominal masses or tenderness that may indicate retroperitoneal fibrosis.
-
Cardiac failure; cases of valvular and pericardial fibrosis have often manifested as cardiac failure. Therefore, valvular fibrosis (and constrictive pericarditis) should be excluded if such symptoms occur.
Clinical diagnostic monitoring for development of fibrotic disorders, as appropriate, is essential. Following treatment initiation, the first echocardiogram must occur within 3-6 months, thereafter, the frequency of echocardiographic monitoring should be determined by appropriate individual clinical assessment with particular emphasis on the above-mentioned signs and symptoms, but must occur at least every 6 to 12 months.
Cabergoline should be discontinued if an echocardiogram reveals new or worsened valvular regurgitation, valvular restriction or valve leaflet thickening (see section 4.3).
The need for other clinical monitoring (e.g. physical examination including, cardiac auscultation, X-ray, CT scan) should be determined on an individual basis.
Additional appropriate investigations such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and serum creatinine measurements should be performed if necessary to support a diagnosis of a fibrotic disorder.
Hypotension
Symptomatic hypotension can occur within 6 hours following administration of cabergoline: particular attention should be paid when administering cabergoline concomitantly with other medicinal product known to lower blood pressure. Because of its elimination half-life hypotensive effects may persist for a few days after cessation of therapy. Monitoring of treatment with regular checks of blood pressure is recommended in the first 3-4 days after initiation of treatment.
Somnolence/sudden sleep onset
Cabergoline has been associated with somnolence and episodes of sudden sleep onset in patients with Parkinson's disease. Sudden onset of sleep during daily activities, in some cases without awareness or warning signs, has been reported. Patients must be informed of this and advised to exercise caution while driving or operating machines during treatment with cabergoline. Patients who have experienced somnolence and/or an episode of sudden sleep onset must refrain from driving or operating machines during treatment with cabergoline (see section 4.7). Furthermore a reduction of dosage or termination of therapy may be considered.
Psychiatric
Pathological gambling, increased libido and hypersexuality have been reported in patients treated with dopamine agonists for Parkinson's disease, including cabergoline. This has been generally reversible upon reduction of the dose or treatment discontinuation.
Renal insufficiency
No overall differences in the pharmacokinetics of cabergoline were observed in moderate to severe renal disease. The pharmacokinetics of cabergoline has not been studied in patients having end-stage renal failure, or in patients on haemodialysis; these patients should be treated with caution.
Hepatic insufficiency
Lower doses of cabergoline should be considered in patients with severe hepatic insufficiency. Compared to normal volunteers and those with lesser degrees of hepatic insufficiency, an increase in AUC has been seen in patients with severe hepatic insufficiency (Child-Pugh Class C) who received a single 1 mg dose. These patients should be dosed with caution and it is recommended that daily dose should be limited to no more than 1 mg.
Postural Hypotension
Postural hypotension can occur following administration of cabergoline, particularly during the first days of administration of cabergoline. Care should be exercised when administering cabergoline concomitantly with other drugs known to lower blood pressure.
Other
This medicinal product contains lactose. Patients with rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, the Lapp lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malabsorption should not take this medicine.
4.5 Interaction with other medicinal products and other forms of interaction
Concomitant use not recommended
Elevated plasma levels of bromocriptine have been observed in combination with macrolide antibiotics (such as erythromycin). Effects of macrolide antibiotics on cabergoline’s plasma levels when administered simultaneously have not been studied. The combination should be avoided, as it may result in elevated cabergoline plasma levels.
Cabergoline acts through direct stimulation of dopamine receptors. Consequently, it should not be combined with medicinal products with a dopamine antagonistic effect (such as phenothiazines, butyrophenones, thioxanthenes, metoclopramide) since these might reduce the therapeutic effect of cabergoline.
No information is available about possible interactions between cabergoline and other ergot alkaloids. Therefore, long-term treatment with cabergoline is not advised in combination with these medicinal products.
Precautions
Interactions with other medicinal products that reduce blood pressure should be taken into consideration.
The concomitant use of antiparkinson non-dopamine agonists (e.g. selegiline, amantadine, biperiden, trihexyphenidyl) was allowed in clinical studies for patients receiving cabergoline.
No pharmacokinetic interaction with levodopa or selegiline was observed in the studies carried out in parkinsonian patients. Pharmacokinetic interactions with other medicinal products cannot be predicted based on available information about the metabolism of cabergoline.
4.6 Fertility, pregnancy and lactation
Pregnancy
In a twelve year observational study on pregnancy outcomes following cabergoline therapy, information is available on 256 pregnancies. Seventeen of these 256 pregnancies (6.6%) eventuated in major congenital malformations or abortion. Information is available on 23/258 infants who had a total of 27 neonatal abnormalities, both major and minor. Musculoskeletal malformations were the most common neonatal abormality (10), followed by cardio-pulmonary abnormalities (5). There is no information on perinatal disorders or long-term development of infants exposed to intra-uterine cabergoline. Based on recent published literature, the prevalence of major congenital malformations in the general population has been reported to be 6.9% or greater. Rates of congenital abnormality vary between different populations. It is not possible to accurately determine if there is an increased risk as no control group was included.
Before cabergoline administration, pregnancy should be excluded and after treatment should be prevented for at least one month.
Cabergoline has been shown to cross the placenta in rats. It is not known whether this occurs also in humans.
Because of the limited experience of the use of cabergoline in pregnancy, cabergoline should be withdrawn before a planned pregnancy. If the patient becomes pregnant during treatment, cabergoline shall be immediately withdrawn. During pregnancy, these patients must be carefully monitored for any pregnancy-induced pituitary enlargement.
Cabergoline should only be used during pregnancy if clearly indicated.
Cabergoline restores ovulation and fertility in women with hyperprolactinaemic hypogonadism: since pregnancy might occur prior to reinitiation of menses, pregnancy testing is recommended as appropriate during the amenorrhoeic period and, once menses are reinitiated, every time a menstrual period is delayed by more than three days. Women not seeking pregnancy should be advised to use effective non-hormonal contraception during treatment and after cabergoline withdrawal. Because of limited experience on the safety of foetal exposure to cabergoline, it is advisable that women seeking pregnancy conceive at least one month after cabergoline discontinuation given that ovulatory cycles persist in some patients for 6 months after withdrawal. Should pregnancy occur during treatment, cabergoline is to be discontinued. As a precautionary measure, women who become pregnant should be monitored to detect signs of pituitary enlargement since expansion of pre-existing pituitary tumours may occur during gestation.
Contraception should be continued for at least 4 weeks after stopping cabergoline.
Lactation
Cabergoline should not be administered to mothers who elect to breastfeed their infants since it prevents lactation. No information is available on the excretion of active substance in maternal milk but in rats cabergoline and/or its metabolites are excreted in the milk.
Mothers should be advised not to breast-feed while being treated with cabergoline.
4.7 Effects on ability to drive and use machines
Cabergoline reduces blood pressure, which may impair the reactions of certain patients. This should be taken into account in situations requiring intense awareness, such as when driving a car or operating machinery.
Patients being treated with cabergoline and presenting with somnolence and/or sudden sleep episodes must be informed to refrain from driving or engaging in activities where impaired alertness may put themselves and others at risk of serious injury or death (e.g. operating machines), until such recurrent episodes and somnolence have resolved (see section 4.4)
4.8 Undesirable effects
The undesirable effects are usually dose-dependent, and can be reduced by decreasing the dose gradually.
About 1070 parkinsonian patients have received cabergoline as adjuvant therapy to L-dopa in clinical studies; of these 74% had at least one adverse event, mainly of mild to moderate severity and transient in nature, and requiring discontinuation in a small proportion of cases.
In clinical studies, increases of triglycerides greater than 30% above the upper limit of the laboratory reference range were observed in 6.8% of the cabergoline-treated patients who had values within the normal range at baseline. In most cases the increases were transient. No clear indications of increases over time or significant shifts from normal to abnormal values were observed in the overall group of patients treated with cabergoline.
The following undesirable effects have been observed and reported during treatment with cabergoline with the following frequencies: Very common (≥1/10), Common (≥1/100 to <1/10), uncommon (≥1/1,000 to <1/100), rare (≥1/10,000 to <1/1,000), very rare (<1/10,000), not known (cannot be estimated from the available data).
Newly Diagnosed Parkinson’s Patients |
||
MedDRA System Organ Class |
Frequency |
Undesirable Effects |
Psychiatric disorders |
Common |
Hallucinations, sleep disturbances |
Nervous system disorders |
Common |
Dizziness, dyskinesia |
Vascular disorders |
Common |
Postural hypotension |
Gastrointestinal disorders |
Very common |
Nausea |
Common |
Constipation, dyspepsia, gastritis, vomiting |
|
General disorders and administration site conditions |
Very common |
Peripheral edema |
Patients on Adjunct Levodopa Therapy |
||
MedDRA System Organ Class |
Frequency |
Undesirable Effects |
Psychiatric disorders |
Common |
Confusion, hallucinations |
Nervous system disorders |
Common |
Dizziness, dyskinesia |
Uncommon |
Hyperkinesia |
|
Cardiac disorders |
Common |
Angina |
Vascular disorders |
Common |
Postural hypotension |
Uncommon |
Erythromelalgia |
|
Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders |
Uncommon |
Pleural effusion, pulmonary fibrosis |
Gastrointestinal disorders |
Very common |
Nausea |
Common |
Dyspepsia, gastritis, vomiting |
|
General disorders and administration site conditions |
Common |
Peripheral edema |
Investigations |
Common |
Decreased hemoglobin, hematocrit, and/or red blood cell (>15% vs baseline) |
Post-marketing Surveillance |
||
MedDRA System Organ Class |
Frequency |
Undesirable Effects |
Immune system disorders |
Uncommon |
Hypersensitivity reaction |
Psychiatric disorders |
Common |
Increased libido |
Uncommon |
Delusions, psychotic disorder |
|
Not Known |
Aggression, hypersexuality, pathological gambling |
|
Nervous system disorders |
Common |
Headache, somnolence |
Not Known |
Sudden sleep onset, syncope |
|
Cardiac disorders |
Very common |
Valvulopathy (including regurgitation) and related disorders (pericarditis and pericardial effusion) |
Vascular disorders |
Not Known |
Digital vasospasm |
Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders |
Common |
Dyspnea |
Very rare |
Fibrosis |
|
Not Known |
Respiratory disorder, respiratory failure |
|
Hepato-biliary disorders |
Uncommon |
Hepatic function abnormal |
Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders |
Uncommon |
Rash |
Not Known |
Alopecia |
|
Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders |
Not Known |
Leg cramps |
General disorders and administration site conditions |
Common |
Asthenia |
Uncommon |
Edema, fatigue |
|
Investigations |
Common |
Liver function tests abnormal |
Not Known |
Blood creatinine phosphokinase increased |
Other
Adverse events have been reported with lower doses of cabergoline (0.25 – 2 mg per week) that are not listed above including:
Common (≥ 1/100 to < 1/10)
Psychiatric disorders: Depression
Nervous system disorders: Paresthesia
Cardiac disorders: Palpitations
Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders: Facial redness
Uncommon (≥ 1/1,000 to <1/100)
Eye disorders: Hemianopsia
Vascular disorders: Nose bleeding
Rare (≥ 1/10,000 to < 1/1,000)
Mucoskeletal, connective tissue and bone disorders: Cramp in fingers
4.9 Overdose
There is no clinical experience of overdosing, but observations from animal experiments suggest that symptoms resulting from overstimulation of dopamine receptors can be expected, such as nausea, vomiting, gastric complaints, postural hypotension, reduced blood pressure, confusion/psychosis or hallucinations. Where indicated, supportive measures must be taken to remove unabsorbed drug and to restore blood pressure. In addition, the administration of dopamine antagonist drugs may be advisable.
5. PHARMACOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
5.1 Pharmacodynamic properties
Pharmacotherapeutic group: Dopamine agonist
ATC code: N04BC06
Cabergoline is a synthetic ergot alkaloid and an ergoline derivate with long-acting dopamine agonist and prolactin-inhibiting properties. A central dopaminergic effect via D2-receptor stimulation is achieved through higher doses than doses that reduce the levels of serum prolactin.
Controlled clinical studies have demonstrated that cabergoline is effective at an average dose of 4 mg/day following titration (up to 5-6 mg cabergoline/day in the different studies). However, due to the risk of cardiac valvulopathy and related disorders (pericarditis and pericardial effusion), the dose should not exceed 3 mg cabergoline/day. Cabergoline reduces daily fluctuations in the motor function in patients with Parkinson’s disease who are being treated with levodopa/carbidopa. In newly diagnosed patients, cabergoline administered as monotherapy has been shown to produce somewhat less frequent clinical improvement compared with levodopa/carbidopa.
With regard to the endocrine effects of cabergoline not related to the antiprolactinaemic effect, available data from humans confirm the experimental findings in animals indicating that the test compound is endowed with a very selective action with no effect on basal secretion of other pituitary hormones or cortisol.
The pharmacodynamic actions of cabergoline not correlated with the therapeutic effect only relate to blood pressure decrease. The maximal hypotensive effect of cabergoline as single dose usually occurs during the first 6 hours after active substance intake and is dose-dependent both in terms of maximal decrease and frequency.
5.2 Pharmacokinetic properties
Absorption
After oral administration cabergoline is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract as the peak plasma concentration is received within 0.5 to 4 hours.
Food does not appear to affect absorption and disposition of cabergoline.
Distribution
“In-vitro” experiments showed that cabergoline at concentrations of 0.1-10 ng/ml is 41-42% bound to plasma proteins.
Biotransformation
In urine, the main metabolite identified is 6-allyl-8ß-carboxy-ergoline, which accounts for 4-6% of the dose. Three additional metabolites are identified in urine, which altogether account for less than 3% of the dose. The metabolites have been found to be much less potent than cabergoline in inhibiting prolactin secretion “in-vitro”.
Elimination
The elimination half-life of cabergoline is long (63-68 hours in healthy volunteers and 79-115 hours in hyperprolactinaemic patients).
On the basis of the elimination half-life, steady state conditions should be achieved after 4 weeks, as confirmed by the mean peak plasma levels of cabergoline obtained after a single dose (37 ± 8 pg/ml) and after a 4 week multiple-regimen (101 ± 43 pg/ml) for 0.5 mg cabergoline dose.
Ten days after administration about 18% and 72% of the dose is recovered in urine and in faeces, respectively. Unchanged cabergoline in urine accounts for 2-3% of the dose.
Linearity/Non-linearity
The pharmacokinetic profile is linear up to 7 mg per day.
5.3 Preclinical safety data
Almost all the findings noted throughout the series of preclinical safety studies are a consequence of the central dopaminergic effects or the long-lasting inhibition of prolactin secretion in species (rodents) with a specific hormonal physiology different to man.
Preclinical safety studies of cabergoline indicate a large safety margin for this compound in rodents and in monkeys, as well as a lack of teratogenic, mutagenic or carcinogenic potential.
6. PHARMACEUTICAL PARTICULARS
6.1 List of excipients
Lactose anhydrous,
Leucine
6.2 Incompatibilities
Not applicable.
6.3 Shelf life
2 years.
After first opening: 3 months
6.4 Special precautions for storage
Keep the bottle tightly closed in order to protect from light and moisture.
6.5 Nature and contents of container
Amber glass bottle with LDPE cap, and desiccant: 8, 20, 30, 32 40, 60, 64, 96, 100, 2x100 and 200 tablets
Not all pack sizes may be marketed.
6.6 Special precautions for disposal and other handling
No special requirements.
7. MARKETING AUTHORISATION HOLDER
[To be completed nationally]
8. MARKETING AUTHORISATION NUMBER(S)
[To be completed nationally]
9. DATE OF FIRST AUTHORISATION/RENEWAL OF THE AUTHORISATION
2011-12-28
10. DATE OF REVISION OF THE TEXT
2011-12-28