Know About Avodart and Pregnancy
To start with, Avodart has not been permitted for any use in women. Apart from that, any touch with this drug during pregnancy can cause birth defects. Therefore, if you are likely to be pregnant or have a desire for being pregnant, let your healthcare provider knows immediately. A study was made on animal that revealed the truths of Avodart during pregnancy. As it can harm to the unborn fetus, Avodart is classified as a pregnancy Category X medication.
Avodart is a 5α-reductase inhibitor that puts a stop to conversion of testosterone to dihydrotesterone (DHT), a hormone indispensable for normal development of male fetus. It creates abnormalities in the genitalia of male fetuses. Dutasteride is absorbed through the skin. To evade undesired consequences like potential fetal exposure, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should not handle Avodart capsules. In case any contact is made with breaking or leaking tablet, rinse right away with soap and water.
Avodart and Pregnancy Category X
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make use of a pregnancy category system to categorize the potential risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Pregnancy Category X is given to medicines that prove problems to the fetus in animal studies or in humans who have mistakenly taken the medicine.
Dutasteride emits into male semen. In men treated with this drug, the highest measured semen concentration of dutasteride was 14 ng/mL. If a 50-kg woman is exposed to 5 mL of semen and 100% absorption, the woman’s dutasteride concentration would be around 0.175 ng/mL. This amount of concentrations can not produce abnormalities of male genitalia in animal studies. Dutasteride is highly protein bound in human semen (>96%), which may reduce the amount of dutasteride accessible for vaginal assimilation.
According to an embryo-fetal development study in female rats, oral administration of dutasteride at doses 10 times less than the maximum suggested human dose (MRHD) gave rise to abnormalities of male genitalia in the fetus, and nipple development, hypospadias, and inflated preputial glands in male offspring. An increase in stillborn pups was experienced at 111 times the MRHD, and reduced fetal body weight was observed at doses greater than15 times the MRHD.
As per a study on an embryo-fetal development, pregnant rhesus monkeys were exposed intravenously to a dutasteride blood level comparable to the dutasteride concentration found in human semen. The development of male external genitalia of monkey offspring was not harmfully affected. Some decrease of fetal adrenal weights, reduction in fetal prostate weights, and increases in fetal ovarian and testis weights were observed in monkeys.
Since it would be risky to give Avodart to pregnant women, the use of Avodart in pregnant women has never been studied in a clinical trial. Nevertheless, we know about the problems Avodart might cause based on trials in monkeys, rats, and rabbits.
Can Avodart Be Used by My Partner While I Am Pregnant?
A person can take avodart during his wife’s pregnancy. It will not create any problem with the fetus. It has been proved form the fact that observed doses up to 16 times the amount of Avodart found in semen. But you should be careful that your wife doesn’t touch any broken or crushed Avodart capsules.