Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Dutasteride is an oral synthetic 4-azasteroid commonly marketed under the trade name Avodart.
Safety information for pregnancy and breastfeeding
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Dutasteride
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Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Dutasteride
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
22 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Dutasteride on the MHRA register
Avodart 500microgram capsules
Avodart 500microgram capsules
Avodart 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
Dutasteride 500microgram capsules
This is the NHS Drug Tariff indicative price used for reimbursement purposes. It may not reflect the price paid by patients or pharmacies.
View full Drug TariffSource: NHS Drug Tariff via NHSBSA. Derived from dm+d VMPP (Virtual Medicinal Product Pack) pricing data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
500 microgram
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via NHS dm+d BNF mapping files. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Dutasteride
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. emc (electronic medicines compendium) is operated by Datapharm Ltd. Shortage information sourced from NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), sps.nhs.uk.
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
1 found
Half-life
Not available
Mechanism
The 5α-reductase is a nuclear-bound steroid intracellular enzyme primarily locat…
Food interactions
1 warning
Human targets
3 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
0.5 mg
Half-life
5 weeks
Protein binding
99%
[L10568]
Volume of distribution
300 to 500 L
Metabolism
Elimination
1-15%
Clearance
0.01 to 40 mg
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[L10568]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 785 interactions
The estimated dermal LD50 of dutasteride in rabbits is > 2,000 mg/kg.
[L6256]
Overdose
In studies of volunteers receiving single doses of dutasteride up to 40 mg (which is 80 times the therapeutic dose) for 7 days, there were no reports of clinically significant adverse events.
[L10568]
Low incidences of impotence, reduced libido, gynecomastia, and ejaculation disorder occurred significantly more often in dutasteride than placebo recipients.
[A178345]
There are no known antidotes for dutasteride. In case of overdose, appropriate symptomatic and supportive treatment should be given.
[L10568]
Nonclinical Toxicology
In a 2-year carcinogenicity mouse study, there was an increased incidence of benign hepatocellular adenomas in female mice receiving 250 mg/kg/day.
[L10568]
An increased incidence of Leydig cell hyperplasia was observed in male rats receiving doses of 7.5 mg/kg/day and greater. At tumorogenic doses, the luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in rats were increased by 167%.
There was no demonstrated a genotoxic potential of dutasteride or its metabolites in a bacterial mutagenesis assay, a chromosomal aberration assay in CHO cells, and a micronucleus assay in rats.
[L10568]
At much higher doses than the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) in sexually mature male rats, dutasteride caused a dose- and time-dependent decrease in fertility, reduced cauda epididymal (absolute) sperm counts but not sperm concentration (at 50 and 500 mg/kg/day), reduced weights of the epididymis, prostate, and seminal vesicles, and microscopic changes in the male reproductive organs.
[L10568]
At exposures 425- and 315-fold the expected clinical exposure of dutasteride in rats and dogs, respectively, there were some signs of non-specific, reversible, centrally-mediated toxicity without associated histopathological changes.
[L10568]
Pregnancy and Lactation
As DHT is a necessary hormone for the development of male genitalia, exposure to dutasteride in pregnant women bearing male fetuses may cause fetal harm.
[L10568]
In animal reproduction and developmental toxicity studies, dutasteride inhibited normal development of external genitalia in male fetuses.
[L10568]
Although it is not known whether dutasteride is excreted in human milk, the use of dutasteride in women of childbearing potential, including nursing women.
[L10568]
In elderly patients, the half-life of dutasteride may increase. As the renal elimination of dutasteride is very minimal, the use of dutasteride in patients renal insufficiency is reported to be safe.
[L6256]
There are no specific dosage adjustment recommendations for use in elderly patients or patients with renal impairment.
[L10568]
By forming a stable complex with both type I and type II 5α-reductase, dutasteride inhibits its enzymatic action of converting testosterone to 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is the androgen primarily responsible for the initial development and subsequent enlargement of the prostate gland. It is proposed that DHT is the principal androgen responsible for prostatic growth in later life-normal masculinization of the external genitalia and maturation of the prostate gland during development-thus reducing the serum DHT levels results in reduced prostatic volume and increased epithelial apoptosis.[A178375] Dutasteride is a competitive and specific inhibitor of both Type I and Type II 5α-reductase isoenzymes and when evaluated under in vitro and in vivo conditions, the dissociation of the drug from the drug-enzyme complex is reported to be extremely slow.[L10568] Dutasteride does not bind to the human androgen receptor.[L10568]
After 1 and 2 weeks of daily dosing with dutasteride 0.5 mg, median serum DHT concentrations were reduced by 85% and 90%, respectively.[L10568] The serum concentrations of DHT were maintained to be decreased by more than 90% in 85% of patients following 1 years' administration of oral dutasteride 0.5 mg/day.[A178345] As evident from the clinical studies, dutasteride may also cause decreases in serum PSA in the presence of prostate cancer.[L10568]
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
While food intake reduced the maximum serum concentrations by 10 to 15%, food intake is reported to have a negligible effect on the bioavailability of the drug.
[L10568]
[L10568]
[L10568]
[L10568]
[L10568]
Therefore, on average, the dose unaccounted for approximated 55%, with a range between 5% and 97%.
[L10568]
[A178363]
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:20637498 PMID:38821050
Acts as a polyprenal reductase that mediates the reduction of polyprenal into dolichal in a NADP-dependent mechanism .
PMID:38821050
Dolichols are required for the synthesis of dolichol-linked monosaccharides and the oligosaccharide precursor used for N-glycosylation .
PMID:20637498 PMID:38821050
Also able to convert testosterone (T) into 5-alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) PMID:17986282 PMID:26855069
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
PMID:19021548
Major calcium and magnesium transporter in plasma, binds approximately 45% of circulating calcium and magnesium in plasma (By similarity).
Potentially has more than two calcium-binding sites and might additionally bind calcium in a non-specific manner (By similarity). The shared binding site between zinc and calcium at residue Asp-273 suggests a crosstalk between zinc and calcium transport in the blood (By similarity). The rank order of affinity is zinc > calcium > magnesium (By similarity).
Binds to the bacterial siderophore enterobactin and inhibits enterobactin-mediated iron uptake of E.coli from ferric transferrin, and may thereby limit the utilization of iron and growth of enteric bacteria such as E.coli .
PMID:6234017
Does not prevent iron uptake by the bacterial siderophore aerobactin PMID:6234017
Appears to function in modulating the activity of the immune system during the acute-phase reaction
ATC G04CB02
ATC G04CA52
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Dutasteride
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
12580
ChemSpider
5293502
BindingDB
50340481
ZINC
ZINC000003932831
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11284
GenAtlas
SRD5A1
GeneCards
SRD5A1
GenBank Gene Database
M32313
GenBank Protein Database
177767
UniProt Accession
S5A1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:11285
GenAtlas
SRD5A2
GeneCards
SRD5A2
GenBank Gene Database
M74047
GenBank Protein Database
338469
Guide to Pharmacology
2633
UniProt Accession
S5A2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:25812
GeneCards
SRD5A3
UniProt Accession
SR5A3_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2638
GenAtlas
CYP3A5
GeneCards
CYP3A5
GenBank Gene Database
J04813
GenBank Protein Database
181346
Guide to Pharmacology
1338
UniProt Accession
CP3A5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:399
GenAtlas
ALB
GeneCards
ALB
GenBank Gene Database
V00494
GenBank Protein Database
28590
UniProt Accession
ALBU_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:8498
GenAtlas
ORM1
GeneCards
ORM1
GenBank Gene Database
X02544
GenBank Protein Database
757907
UniProt Accession
A1AG1_HUMAN
UniProt Accession
SC6A3_MOUSE
UniProt Accession
VMAT2_MOUSE
International reference pricing
Reference pricing from DrugBank. Prices are indicative and may not reflect current UK costs.
Source: DrugBank. Used under CC BY-NC 4.0 academic licence for non-commercial purposes.
Patent information
All patents expired, 4 expired
Source: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0. Patent data sourced from national patent offices. Expiry dates may not reflect extensions, regulatory exclusivity periods, or legal challenges.
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: