Special Warning : אזהרת שימוש

4.4   Special warnings and precautions for use

Fluid retention and cardiac failure
Pioglitazone can cause fluid retention, which may exacerbate or precipitate heart failure. When treating patients who have at least one risk factor for development of congestive heart failure (e.g.
prior myocardial infarction or symptomatic coronary artery disease or the elderly), physicians should start with the lowest available dose and increase the dose gradually. Patients should be observed for signs and symptoms of heart failure, weight gain or oedema; particularly those with reduced cardiac reserve. There have been post-marketing cases of cardiac failure reported when pioglitazone was used in combination with insulin or in patients with a history of cardiac failure.
Patients should be observed for signs and symptoms of heart failure, weight gain and oedema when pioglitazone is used in combination with insulin. Since insulin and pioglitazone are both associated with fluid retention, concomitant administration may increase the risk of oedema. Post marketing cases of peripheral oedema and cardiac failure have also been reported in patients with concomitant use of pioglitazone and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including selective COX-2 inhibitors.
Pioglitazone should be discontinued if any deterioration in cardiac status occurs.

A cardiovascular outcome study of pioglitazone has been performed in patients under 75 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus and pre-existing major macrovascular disease. Pioglitazone or placebo was added to existing antidiabetic and cardiovascular therapy for up to 3.5 years. This study showed an increase in reports of heart failure, however this did not lead to an increase in mortality in this study.

Elderly

Combination use with insulin should be considered with caution in the elderly because of increased risk of serious heart failure.

In light of age- related risks (especially bladder cancer, fractures and heart failure), the balance of benefits and risks should be considered carefully both before and during treatment in the elderly.
Bladder cancer

Cases of bladder cancer were reported more frequently in a meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials with pioglitazone (19 cases from 12506 patients, 0.15%) than in control groups (7 cases from 10212 patients, 0.07%) HR=2.64 (95% CI 1.11-6.31, P=0.029). After excluding patients in whom exposure to study drug was less than one year at the time of diagnosis of bladder cancer, there were 7 cases (0.06%) on pioglitazone and 2 cases (0.02%) in control groups. Epidemiological studies have also suggested a small increased risk of bladder cancer in diabetic patients treated with pioglitazone, although not all studies identified a statistically significant increased risk .

Risk factors for bladder cancer should be assessed before initiating pioglitazone treatment (risks include age, smoking history, exposure to some occupational or chemotherapy agents e.g. cyclophosphamide or prior radiation treatment in the pelvic region). Any macroscopic haematuria should be investigated before starting pioglitazone therapy.

Patients should be advised to promptly seek the attention of their physician if macroscopic haematuria or other symptoms such as dysuria or urinary urgency develop during treatment.

Monitoring of liver function

There have been rare reports of hepatocellular dysfunction during post-marketing experience (see section 4.8). It is recommended, therefore, that patients treated with pioglitazone undergo periodic monitoring of liver enzymes. Liver enzymes should be checked prior to the initiation of therapy with pioglitazone in all patients. Therapy with pioglitazone should not be initiated in patients with increased baseline liver enzyme levels (ALT > 2.5 X upper limit of normal) or with any other evidence of liver disease.

Following initiation of therapy with pioglitazone, it is recommended that liver enzymes be monitored periodically based on clinical judgement. If ALT levels are increased to 3 X upper limit of normal during pioglitazone therapy, liver enzyme levels should be reassessed as soon as possible.
If ALT levels remain > 3 X the upper limit of normal, therapy should be discontinued. If any patient develops symptoms suggesting hepatic dysfunction, which may include unexplained nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, anorexia and/or dark urine, liver enzymes should be checked.
The decision whether to continue the patient on therapy with pioglitazone should be guided by clinical judgement pending laboratory evaluations. If jaundice is observed, the medicinal product should be discontinued.

Weight gain

In clinical trials with pioglitazone there was evidence of dose related weight gain, which may be due to fat accumulation and in some cases associated with fluid retention. In some cases weight increase may be a symptom of cardiac failure, therefore weight should be closely monitored. Part of the treatment of diabetes is dietary control. Patients should be advised to adhere strictly to a calorie- controlled diet.

Haematology

There was a small reduction in mean haemoglobin (4% relative reduction) and haematocrit (4.1% relative reduction) during therapy with pioglitazone, consistent with haemodilution. Similar changes were seen in metformin (haemoglobin 3-4% and haematocrit 3.6–4.1% relative reductions) and to a lesser extent sulphonylurea and insulin (haemoglobin 1–2% and haematocrit 1–3.2% relative reductions) treated patients in comparative controlled trials with pioglitazone.


Hypoglycaemia
As a consequence of increased insulin sensitivity, patients receiving pioglitazone in dual or triple oral therapy with a sulphonylurea or in dual therapy with insulin may be at risk for dose-related hypoglycaemia, and a reduction in the dose of the sulphonylurea or insulin may be necessary.

Eye disorders

Post-marketing reports of new-onset or worsening diabetic macular oedema with decreased visual acuity have been reported with thiazolidinediones, including pioglitazone. Many of these patients reported concurrent peripheral oedema. It is unclear whether or not there is a direct association between pioglitazone and macular oedema but prescribers should be alert to the possibility of macular oedema if patients report disturbances in visual acuity; an appropriate ophthalmological referral should be considered.

Others

An increased incidence in bone fractures in women was seen in a pooled analysis of adverse reactions of bone fracture from randomised, controlled, double blind clinical trials in over 8100 pioglitazone and 7400 comparator treated patients, on treatment for up to 3.5 years.

Fractures were observed in 2.6% of women taking pioglitazone compared to 1.7% of women treated with a comparator. No increase in fracture rates was observed in men treated with pioglitazone (1.3%) versus comparator (1.5%).

The fracture incidence calculated was 1.9 fractures per 100 patient years in women treated with pioglitazone and 1.1 fractures per 100 patient years in women treated with a comparator. The observed excess risk of fractures for women in this dataset on pioglitazone is therefore 0.8 fractures per 100 patient years of use.

In the 3.5 year cardiovascular risk PROactive study, 44/870 (5.1%; 1.0 fractures per 100 patient years) of pioglitazone-treated female patients experienced fractures compared to 23/905 (2.5%; 0.5 fractures per 100 patient years) of female patients treated with comparator. No increase in fracture rates was observed in men treated with pioglitazone (1.7%) versus comparator (2.1%).

Some epidemiological studies have suggested a similarly increased risk of fracture in both men and women.

The risk of fractures should be considered in the long term care of women treated with pioglitazone (see section 4.8).

As a consequence of enhancing insulin action, pioglitazone treatment in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome may result in resumption of ovulation. These patients may be at risk of pregnancy. Patients should be aware of the risk of pregnancy and if a patient wishes to become pregnant or if pregnancy occurs, the treatment should be discontinued (see section 4.6).

Pioglitazone should be used with caution during concomitant administration of cytochrome P450 2C8 inhibitors (e.g. gemfibrozil) or inducers (e.g. rifampicin). Glycaemic control should be monitored closely. Pioglitazone dose adjustment within the recommended posology or changes in diabetic treatment should be considered (see section 4.5).

Actos tablets contain lactose monohydrate and therefore should not be administered to patients with rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, the Lapp lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malabsorption.


Effects on Driving

4.7    Effects on ability to drive and use machines

Actos has no or negligible effect on the ability to drive and use machines. However patients who experience visual disturbance should be cautious when driving or using machines.