Vardenafil

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Vardenafil

Vardenafil (INN

International Nonproprietary Name

An International Nonproprietary Name is the official non-proprietary or generic name given to a pharmaceutical substance, as designated by the World Health Organization ....
) is a PDE5 inhibitor

PDE5 inhibitor

A phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, often shortened to PDE5 inhibitor, is a medication used to block the degradative action of phosphodiesterase type 5 on cyclic GMP in the smooth muscle cells lining the blood vessels supplying the corpus cavernosum of the penis....
used for treating impotence (erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction is a sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance....
) that is sold under the trade name Levitra (Bayer AG

Bayer

Bayer Aktiengesellschaft is a Germany chemical industry and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. Today it is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
), (GSK

GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline plc is a United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical industry, biological, and healthcare company. GSK is the world's second largest pharmaceutical company and a research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system, respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic,...
), (SP) .

Clinical use
Vardenafil's indications and contra-indications are the same as with other PDE5 inhibitor; it is closely related in function to sildenafil

Sildenafil

Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra, Revatio and under various other trade names, is a Medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension ....
(Viagra) and tadalafil

Tadalafil

Tadalafil is an orally administered medication for treating erectile dysfunction , that initially was developed by the biotechnology company ICOS, and then again developed and marketed world-wide as Cialis, by Lilly ICOS, LLC, the joint venture of ICOS Corporation and Eli Lilly and Company....
(Cialis).

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Encyclopedia

Vardenafil (INN

International Nonproprietary Name

An International Nonproprietary Name is the official non-proprietary or generic name given to a pharmaceutical substance, as designated by the World Health Organization ....
) is a PDE5 inhibitor

PDE5 inhibitor

Erectile dysfunction

Bayer

GlaxoSmithKline

History

Vardenafil was co-marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals

Bayer

GlaxoSmithKline

Schering-Plough

Schering-Plough Corporation is a pharmaceutical company founded in 1851 by Ernst Schering as Schering in Germany. Following the entry of the United States into World War II in 1941, U.S....
under the trade name Levitra. As of 2005, the co-promotion rights of GSK on Levitra have been returned to Bayer in many markets outside the U.S. In Italy, Bayer sells vardenafil as Levitra and GSK sells it as Vivanza, thus, because of European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
trade rules, parallel import

Parallel import

A parallel import is a non-counterfeit good imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as grey market, and are implicated in issues of international trade, and intellectual property....
s might result in Vivanza sold next to Levitra in the E.U.

Clinical use

Vardenafil's indications and contra-indications are the same as with other PDE5 inhibitor; it is closely related in function to sildenafil

Sildenafil

Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra, Revatio and under various other trade names, is a Medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension ....
(Viagra) and tadalafil

Tadalafil

Methyl group

In chemistry, a methyl group is a hydrophobic alkyl functional group named after methane . It has the chemical formula -3 and is often abbreviated -Me....
and a nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
atom's position. Vardenafil's relatively short effective time is comparable to sildenafil's.

Adverse drug reactions

The common, adverse drug reactions (side effects) are the same as with other PDE5 inhibitors. The frequent vardenafil-specific side effect is nausea; the infrequent side effects are: abdominal pain, back pain, photosensitivity

Photosensitivity

Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons, especially visible light....
, abnormal vision, eye pain, facial oedema, hypertension

Hypertension

Hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, HTN or HPN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated....
, palpitation, tachycardia

Tachycardia

The word tachycardia comes from the Greek words tachys and kardia .Tachycardia typically refers to a heartrate that exceeds the range of the normal resting heartrate, based upon age:...
, arthralgia

Arthralgia

Arthralgia literally means joint pain; it is a symptom of injury, infection, illnesses or an allergic reaction to medication.According to MeSH, the term "arthralgia" should only be used when the condition is non-inflammatory, and the term "arthritis" should be used when the condition is inflammatory....
, myalgia

Myalgia

Myalgia means "muscle pain" and is a symptom of many diseases and disorders. The most common causes are overuse or over-stretching of a muscle or group of muscles....
, rash, itch, and priapism

Priapism

Priapism is a potentially harmful and painful medical condition in which the erection penis does not return to its flaccid state, despite the absence of both physical and psychological stimulation, within four hours....
. (Rossi, 2004)

One possibly serious, but rare, side effect with vardenafil is heart attack. Also in rare cases, vardenafil use may damage penile tissue, resulting in permanent impotence. Health Canada (2006) (Citation needed.)

On 18 October 2007, the FDA announced that a warning about possible deafness (sudden hearing loss) would be added to the drug labels of Vardenafil, and other PDE5 inhibitors.

Drug interactions

Vardenafil should not be used by men taking nitrate medications, because combining them with vardenafil might provoke potentially life-threatening hypotension (low blood pressure).

Dose forms

It is available in 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, and 20 mg doses in round orange tablets. The normal starting dose is 10 mg (roughly equivalent to 50 mg of sildenafil

Sildenafil

Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra, Revatio and under various other trade names, is a Medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension ....
). Vardenafil should be taken 1 to 2 hours prior to sexual activity, with a maximum dose frequency of once per day. In some territories, such as the UK, only certain doses may be available, i.e. 5 mg, 10 mg, and 20 mg.

Vardenafil

History

Clinical use

Adverse drug reactions

Drug interactions

Dose forms

See also

External links