Enalapril pharmacokinetics and molecular data

Enalapril pharmacokinetics and molecular data
Description Clinical Pharmacology Mechanism of Action Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism Pharmacodynamics and Clinical Effects Heart Failure, Mortality Trials Clinical Pharmacology in Pediatric Patients

Description
Enalapril maleate is the maleate salt of Enalapril, the ethyl ester of a long-acting angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, Enalaprilat. Enalapril maleate is chemically described as (S)-1-[N-[1-(ethoxycarbonyl)-3-phenylpropyl]-L-alanyl]-L-proline, (Z)-2-butenedioate salt (1:1). Its chemical formula is C20H28N2O5•C4H4O4,

Enalapril maleate is a white to off-white, crystalline powder with a molecular weight of 492.52. It is sparingly soluble in water, soluble in ethanol, and freely soluble in methanol. Enalapril is a pro-drug; following oral administration, it is bioactivated by hydrolysis of the ethyl ester to Enalaprilat, which is the active angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. Each tablet for oral administration, contains 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg or 20 mg of Enalapril maleate. In addition, each tablet contains the following inactive ingredients: anhydrous lactose, crospovidone, iron oxide red 30 (in 10 mg and 20 mg only), iron oxide yellow 10 (in 20 mg only), magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose and potassium bicarbonate.

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Mechanism of Action
Enalapril, after hydrolysis to Enalaprilat, inhibits angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in human subjects and animals. ACE is a peptidyl dipeptidase that catalyzes the conversion of angiotensin I to the vasoconstrictor substance, angiotensin II. Angiotensin II also stimu-lates aldosterone secretion by the adrenal cortex. The beneficial effects of Enalapril in hypertension and heart failure appear to result primarily from suppression of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Inhibition of ACE results in decreased plasma angiotensin II, which leads to decreased vasopressor activity and to decreased aldosterone secretion. Although the latter decrease is small, it results in small increases of serum potassium. In hypertensive patients treated with Enalapril alone for up to 48 weeks, mean increases in serum potassium of approximately 0.2 mEq/L were observed. In patients treated with Enalapril plus a thiazide diuretic, there was essentially no change in serum potassium. Removal of angiotensin II negative feedback on renin secretion leads to increased plasma renin activity.

ACE is identical to kininase, an enzyme that degrades bradykinin. Whether increased levels of bradykinin, a potent vasodepressor peptide, play a role in the therapeutic effects of Enalapril remains to be elucidated.

While the mechanism through which Enalapril lowers blood pressure is believed to be primarily suppression of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, Enalapril is antihypertensive even in patients with low-renin hypertension. Although Enalapril was antihypertensive in all races studied, black hypertensive patients (usually a low-renin hypertensive population) had a smaller average response to Enalapril monotherapy than non-black patients.

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Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism
Following oral administration of Enalapril maleate, peak serum concentrations of Enalapril occur within about one hour. Based on urinary recovery, the extent of absorption of Enalapril is approximately 60 percent. Enalapril absorption is not influenced by the presence of food in the gastrointestinal tract. Following absorption, Enalapril is hydrolyzed to Enalaprilat, which is a more potent angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor than Enalapril; Enalaprilat is poorly absorbed when administered orally. Peak serum concentrations of Enalaprilat occur three to four hours after an oral dose of Enalapril maleate. Excretion of Enalapril is primarily renal. Approximately 94 percent of the dose is recovered in the urine and feces as Enalaprilat or Enalapril. The principal components in urine are Enalaprilat, accounting for about 40 percent of the dose, and intact Enalapril. There is no evidence of metabolites of Enalapril, other than Enalaprilat.

The serum concentration profile of Enalaprilat exhibits a prolonged terminal phase, apparently representing a small fraction of the administered dose that has been bound to ACE. The amount bound does not increase with dose, indicating a saturable site of binding. The effective half-life for accumulation of Enalaprilat following multiple doses of Enalapril maleate is 11 hours.

The disposition of Enalapril and Enalaprilat in patients with renal insufficiency is similar to that in patients with normal renal function until the glomerular filtration rate is 30 mL/min or less. With glomerular filtration rate ≤30 mL/min, peak and trough Enalaprilat levels increase, time to peak concentration increases and time to steady state may be delayed. The effective half-life of Enalaprilat following multiple doses of Enalapril maleate is prolonged at this level of renal insufficiency. Enalaprilat is dialyzable at the rate of 62 mL/min.

Studies in dogs indicate that Enalapril crosses the blood-brain barrier poorly, if at all; Enalaprilat does not enter the brain. Multiple doses of Enalapril maleate in rats do not result in accumulation in any tissues. Milk of lactating rats contains radioactivity following administration of 14C-Enalapril maleate. Radioactivity was found to cross the placenta following administration of labeled drug to pregnant hamsters.

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Pharmacodynamics and Clinical Effects
Hypertension: Administration of Enalapril maleate to patients with hypertension of severity ranging from mild to severe results in a reduction of both supine and standing blood pressure usually with no orthostatic component. Symptomatic postural hypotension is therefore infrequent, although it might be anticipated in volume-depleted patients.

In most patients studied, after oral administration of a single dose of Enalapril maleate, onset of antihypertensive activity was seen at one hour with peak reduction of blood pressure achieved by four to six hours.

At recommended doses, antihypertensive effects have been maintained for at least 24 hours. In some patients the effects may diminish toward the end of the dosing interval.

In some patients achievement of optimal blood pressure reduction may require several weeks of therapy.

The antihypertensive effects of Enalapril have continued during long term therapy. Abrupt withdrawal of Enalapril has not been associated with a rapid increase in blood pressure.

In hemodynamic studies in patients with essential hypertension, blood pressure reduction was accompanied by a reduction in peripheral arterial resistance with an increase in cardiac output and little or no change in heart rate. Following administration of Enalapril maleate, there is an increase in renal blood flow; glomerular filtration rate is usually unchanged. The effects appear to be similar in patients with renovascular hypertension.

When given together with thiazide-type diuretics, the blood pressure lowering effects of Enalapril are approximately additive.

In a clinical pharmacology study, indomethacin or sulindac was administered to hypertensive patients receiving Enalapril maleate. In this study there was no evidence of a blunting of the antihypertensive action of Enalapril.

Heart Failure: In trials in patients treated with digitalis and diuretics, treatment with Enalapril resulted in decreased systemic vascular resistance, blood pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and heart size, and increased cardiac output and exercise tolerance. Heart rate was unchanged or slightly reduced, and mean ejection fraction was unchanged or increased. There was a beneficial effect on severity of heart failure as measured by the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification and on symptoms of dyspnea and fatigue. Hemodynamic effects were observed after the first dose, and appeared to be maintained in uncontrolled studies lasting as long as four months. Effects on exercise tolerance, heart size, and severity and symptoms of heart failure were observed in placebo-controlled studies lasting from eight weeks to over one year.

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Heart Failure, Mortality Trials
In a multicenter, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 2,569 patients with all degrees of symptomatic heart failure and ejection fraction ≤35 percent were randomized to placebo or Enalapril maleate and followed for up to 55 months (SOLVD-Treatment). Use of Enalapril was associated with an 11 percent reduction in all-cause mortality and a 30 percent reduction in hospitalization for heart failure. Diseases that excluded patients from enrollment in the study included severe stable angina (>2 attacks/day), hemodynamically significant valvular or outflow tract obstruction, renal failure (creatinine >2.5 mg/dL), cerebral vascular disease (e.g., significant carotid artery disease), advanced pulmonary disease, malignancies, active myocarditis and constrictive pericarditis. The mortality benefit associated with Enalapril does not appear to depend upon digitalis being present.

A second multicenter trial used the SOLVD protocol for study of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients. SOLVD-Prevention patients, who had left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 35% and no history of symptomatic heart failure, were randomized to placebo (n=2117) or Enalapril maleate (n=2111) and followed for up to 5 years. The majority of patients in the SOLVD-Prevention trial had a history of ischemic heart disease. A history of myocardial infarction was present in 80 percent of patients, current angina pectoris in 34 percent, and a history of hypertension in 37 percent. No statistically significant mortality effect was demonstrated in this population. Enalapril maleate-treated subjects had 32% fewer first hospitalizations for heart failure, and 32% fewer total heart failure hospitalizations. Compared to placebo, 32 percent fewer patients receiving Enalapril developed symptoms of overt heart failure. Hospitalizations for cardiovascular reasons were also reduced. There was an insignificant reduction in hospitalizations for any cause in the Enalapril treatment group (for Enalapril maleate vs. placebo, respectively, 1166 vs. 1201 first hospitalizations, 2649 vs. 2840 total hospitalizations), although the study was not powered to look for such an effect.

The SOLVD-Prevention trial was not designed to determine whether treatment of asymptomatic patients with low ejection fraction would be superior, with respect to preventing hospitalization, to closer follow-up and use of Enalapril maleate at the earliest sign of heart failure. However, under the conditions of follow-up in the SOLVD-Prevention trial (every 4 months at the study clinic; personal physician as needed), 68% of patients on placebo who were hospitalized for heart failure had no prior symptoms recorded which would have a signaled initiation of treatment.

The SOLVD-Prevention trial was also not designed to show whether Enalapril modified the progression of underlying heart disease.

In another multicenter, placebo-controlled trial (CONSENSUS) limited to patients with NYHA-Class IV congestive heart failure and radiographic evidence of cardiomegaly, use of Enalapril maleate was associated with improved survival. The results are shown in the following table.



In both CONSENSUS and SOLVD-Treatment trials, patients were also usually receiving digitalis, diuretics or both.

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Clinical Pharmacology in Pediatric Patients
A multiple dose pharmacokinetic study was conducted in 40 hypertensive male and female pediatric patients aged 2 months to ≤16 years following daily oral administration of 0.07 to 0.14 mg/kg Enalapril maleate. At steady state, the mean effective half-life for accumulation of Enalaprilat was 14 hours and the mean urinary recovery of total Enalapril and Enalaprilat in 24 hours was 68% of the administered dose. Conversion of Enalapril to Enalaprilat was in the range of 63-76%. The overall results of this study indicate that the pharmacokinetics of Enalapril in hypertensive children aged 2 months to ≤16 years are consistent across the studied age groups and consistent with pharmacokinetic historic data in healthy adults.

In a clinical study involving 110 hypertensive pediatric patients 6 to 16 years of age, patients who weighed <50 kg received either 0.625, 2.5 or 20 mg of Enalapril daily and patients who weighed ≥50 kg received either 1.25, 5, or 40 mg of Enalapril daily. Enalapril administration once daily lowered trough blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner. The dose-dependent antihypertensive efficacy of Enalapril was consistent across all subgroups (age, Tanner stage, gender, race). However, the lowest doses studied, 0.625 mg and 1.25 mg, corresponding to an average of 0.02 mg/kg once daily, did not appear to offer consistent antihypertensive efficacy. In this study, Enalapril was generally well tolerated.

In the above pediatric studies, Enalapril maleate was given as tablets of Enalapril and for those children and infants who were unable to swallow tablets or who required a lower dose than is available in tablet form, Enalapril was administered in a suspension formulation.

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