Pregnancy Category C
There are no adequate and well-controlled studies with clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate cream in pregnant women. Therefore, clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate cream should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
There have been no teratogenic studies performed in animals or humans with the combination of clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate. Corticosteroids are generally teratogenic in laboratory animals when administered at relatively low dosage levels.
Studies in pregnant rats with intravaginal doses up to 100 mg/kg (15 times the maximum human dose) revealed no evidence of fetotoxicity due to clotrimazole exposure.
No increase in fetal malformations was noted in pregnant rats receiving oral (gastric tube) clotrimazole doses up to 100 mg/kg/day during gestation Days 6 to 15. However, clotrimazole dosed at 100 mg/kg/day was embryotoxic (increased resorptions), fetotoxic (reduced fetal weights), and maternally toxic (reduced body weight gain) to rats. Clotrimazole dosed at 200 mg/kg/day (30 times the maximum human dose) was maternally lethal, and therefore, fetuses were not evaluated in this group. Also in this study, doses up to 50 mg/kg/day (8 times the maximum human dose) had no adverse effects on dams or fetuses. However, in the combined fertility, teratogenicity, and postnatal development study described above, 50 mg/kg clotrimazole was associated with reduced maternal weight gain and reduced numbers of offspring reared to 4 weeks.
Oral clotrimazole doses of 25 mg/kg/day, 50 mg/kg/day, 100 mg/kg/day, and 200 mg/kg/day (2 to 15 times the maximum human dose) were not teratogenic in mice. No evidence of maternal toxicity or embryotoxicity was seen in pregnant rabbits dosed orally with 60 mg/kg/day, 120 mg/kg/day, or 180 mg/kg/day (18 to 55 times the maximum human dose).
Betamethasone dipropionate has been shown to be teratogenic in rabbits when given by the intramuscular route at doses of 0.05 mg/kg. This dose is approximately one-fifth the maximum human dose. The abnormalities observed included umbilical hernias, cephalocele, and cleft palates.
Betamethasone dipropionate has not been tested for teratogenic potential by the dermal route of administration. Some corticosteroids have been shown to be teratogenic after dermal application to laboratory animals.
Vasoconstrictor Assay:
Studies performed with clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate cream indicate that these topical combination antifungal/corticosteroids may have vasoconstrictor potencies in a range that is comparable to high-potency topical corticosteroids. However, similar blanching scores do not necessarily imply therapeutic equivalence.
Mechanism of Action:
Clotrimazole, an azole antifungal agent, inhibits 14-α-demethylation of lanosterol in fungi by binding to one of the cytochrome P-450 enzymes. This leads to the accumulation of 14-α-methylsterols and reduced concentrations of ergosterol, a sterol essential for a normal fungal cytoplasmic membrane. The methylsterols may affect the electron transport system, thereby inhibiting growth of fungi.
Activity
In Vitro and
In Vivo:
Clotrimazole has been shown to be active against most strains of the following dermatophytes, both
in vitro and in clinical infections,
Epidermophyton floccosum,
Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and
Trichophyton rubrum [see
Indications and Usage (1)]
.
Drug Resistance:
Strains of dermatophytes having a natural resistance to clotrimazole have not been reported. Resistance to azoles, including clotrimazole, has been reported in some
Candida species.
No single-step or multiple-step resistance to clotrimazole has developed during successive passages of
Trichophyton mentagrophytes.
Mfd by:
Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Haifa Bay, Israel 2624761
Dist. by:
Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.
Hawthorne, NY 10532
Revised: September 2018
78428-0918-6
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