Nephrotic changes in the rat induced by overdosage of triamterene.
Daily treatment of rats with 2,4,7-triamino-6-phenylpteridine (triamterene, Dyrenium) a potassium sparing diuretic, in daly doses of 1.5 mg, 3 mg and 4.5 mg/100 g body weight over the period of three weeks caused severe degenerative changes of renal cortical and medullary tubules resembling osmotic (sucrose) nephrosis. The undesirable side-effects were absent in the kidneys of intact rats receiving human therapeutic dose of triamterene (0.36 mg/100 g body weight) and even higher dose (1.5 mg/100 g body weight) but administered according to the prescription of treatment recommended by the manufacturer--daily over the first week and three times weekly after that. Rats .2 days after adrenalectomy administered triamterene in daily dose of 1.5 mg/100 g body weight, survived no more than 6--7 days of treatment. The results presented in this paper undoubtedly show that triamterene, although a mild diuretic agent, should be monitored in order to avoid undesirable side-effects. In addition care should be taken in patients with hypofunction of adrenal cortex.
D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008871:Microvilli / Q000187:drug effects; D009401:Nephrosis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D014223:Triamterene / Q000506:poisoning*
D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D014223:Triamterene