General:Large doses of intravenous albuterol have been reported to aggravate pre-existing diabetes mellitus and ketoacidosis. As with other beta-agonists, inhaled and intravenous albuterol may produce a significant hypokalemia in some patients, possibly through intracellular shunting, which has the potential to produce adverse cardiovascular effects. The decrease is usually transient, not requiring potassium supplementation. 

Information for Patients:The action of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution may last up to six hours, and therefore it should not be used more frequently than recommended. Do not increase the dose or frequency of medication without consulting your physician. If you find that treatment with albuterol sulfate inhalation solution becomes less effective for symptomatic relief, your symptoms become worse, and/or you need to use the product more frequently than usual, you should seek medical attention immediately. All asthma medication should only be used under the supervision and direction of a physician. Common effects with medications such as albuterol sulfate inhalation solution include palpitations, chest pain, rapid heart rate, tremor, or nervousness. 

If you are pregnant or nursing, contact your physician about the use of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution. Effective and safe use of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution includes an understanding of the way it should be administered.

If the solution in the vial changes color or becomes cloudy, you should not use it.

The drug compatibility (physical and chemical), clinical efficacy, and safety of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution, when mixed with other drugs in a nebulizer, has not been established.

See illustrated Patient's Instructions for Use.

Drug Interactions:Other short-acting sympathomimetic aerosol bronchodilators or epinephrine should not be used concomitantly with albuterol sulfate inhalation solution. 

Albuterol sulfate inhalation solution should be administered with extreme caution to patients being treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors or tricyclic antidepressants or within 2 weeks of discontinuation of such agents, since the action of albuterol on the vascular system may be potentiated.

Beta-receptor blocking agents not only block the pulmonary effect of beta-agonists, such as albuterol sulfate inhalation solution, but may produce severe bronchospasm in asthmatic patients. Therefore, patients with asthma should not normally be treated with beta-blockers. However, under certain circumstances (e.g., prophylaxis after myocardial infarction), there may be no acceptable alternatives to the use of beta-adrenergic blocking agents in patients with asthma. In this setting, cardioselective beta-blockers should be considered, although they should be administered with caution.

The ECG changes and/or hypokalemia that may result from the administration of non-potassium sparing diuretics (such as loop or thiazide diuretics) can be acutely worsened by beta-agonists, especially when the dose of the beta-agonist is exceeded. Although the clinical significance of these effects is unknown, caution is advised in the co-administration of beta-agonists with non-potassium sparing diuretics.

Mean decreases of 16% to 22% in serum digoxin levels were demonstrated after single dose intravenous and oral administration of albuterol, respectively, to normal volunteers who had received digoxin for 10 days. The clinical significance of these findings for patients with obstructive airway disease who are receiving albuterol and digoxin on a chronic basis is unclear. Nevertheless, it would be prudent to carefully evaluate the serum digoxin levels in patients who are currently receiving digoxin and albuterol.

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, and Impairment of Fertility:In a 2-year study in Sprague-Dawley rats, albuterol sulfate caused a significant dose-related increase in the incidence of benign leiomyomas of the mesovarium and above dietary doses of 2 mg/kg (approximately equivalent to the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose for albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). In another study, this effect was blocked by the co-administration of propranolol, a non-selective beta-adrenergic antagonist. 

In an 18-month study in CD-1 mice, albuterol sulfate showed no evidence of tumorigenicity at dietary doses up to 500 mg/kg (approximately 140 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). In a 22-month study in Golden hamsters, albuterol sulfate showed no evidence of tumorigenicity at dietary doses up to 50 mg/kg (approximately 20 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). 

Albuterol sulfate was not mutagenic in the Ames test or a mutation test in yeast. Albuterol sulfate was not clastogenic in a human peripheral lymphocyte assay or in an AH 1strain mouse micronucleus assay. 

Reproduction studies in rats demonstrated no evidence of impaired fertility at oral doses of albuterol sulfate up to 50 mg/kg (approximately 30 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). 

Pregnancy:Teratogenic Effects: Albuterol has been shown to be teratogenic in mice. A study in CD-1 mice given albuterol subcutaneously showed cleft palate formation in 5 of 111 (4.5%) fetuses at 0.25 mg/kg (less than the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis) and cleft palate formation in 10 of 108 (9.3%) fetuses at 2.5 mg/kg (approximately equal to the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). The drug did not induce cleft palate formation when administered subcutaneously at a dose of 0.025 mg/kg (less than the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). Cleft palate formation also occurred in 23 of 72 (30.5%) fetuses from females treated subcutaneously with 2.5 mg/kg isoproterenol (positive control). A reproduction study in Stride rabbits revealed cranioschisis in 7 of 19 (37%) fetuses when albuterol sulfate was administered orally at 50 mg/kg (approximately 60 times the maximum recommended daily inhalation dose of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution on a mg/m 2basis). 

A study in which pregnant rats were dosed with radiolabeled albuterol sulfate demonstrated that drug-related material was transferred from the maternal circulation to the fetus.

There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of the use of albuterol sulfate in pregnant women. Albuterol should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.

During worldwide marketing experience, various congenital anomalies, including cleft palate and limb defects, have been reported in the offspring of patients being treated with albuterol. Some of the mothers were taking multiple medications during their pregnancies. Because no consistent pattern of defects can be discerned, a relationship between albuterol use and congenital anomalies has not been established.

Labor and Delivery:Oral albuterol has been shown to delay pre-term labor in some reports. There are presently no well-controlled studies that demonstrate that it will stop pre-term labor or prevent labor at term. Because of the potential for beta agonist interference with uterine contractility, use of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution for relief of bronchospasm during labor should be restricted to those patients in whom the benefits clearly outweigh the risk. 

Albuterol has not been approved for the management of pre-term labor. The benefit:risk ratio when albuterol is administered for tocolysis has not been established. Serious adverse reactions, including pulmonary edema, have been reported following administration of albuterol to women in labor.

Nursing Mothers:It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because of the potential for tumorigenicity shown for albuterol in some animal studies, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother. 

Pediatric Use:Safety and effectiveness of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution 1.25 mg and 0.63 mg have been established in pediatric patients between the ages of 2 and 12 years. The use of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution in these age groups is supported by evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution in children age 6 to 12 years and published reports of albuterol sulfate trials in pediatric patients 3 years of age and older. The safety and effectiveness of albuterol sulfate inhalation solution in children below 2 years of age have not been established.