5.1 Effects on Endocrine System

Systemic absorption of topical corticosteroids can produce reversible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression with the potential for glucocorticosteroid insufficiency. This may occur during treatment or after withdrawal of treatment. Manifestations of Cushing's syndrome, hyperglycemia, and glucosuria can also be produced in some patients by systemic absorption of topical corticosteroids while on treatment. Factors that predispose a patient using a topical corticosteroid to HPA axis suppression include the use of high-potency steroids, large treatment surface areas, prolonged use, use of occlusive dressings, altered skin barrier, liver failure, and young age.

Because of the potential for systemic absorption, use of topical corticosteroids may require that patients be periodically evaluated for HPA axis suppression. This may be done by using the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test.

In a study evaluating the effects of mometasone furoate ointment on the HPA axis, 15 grams were applied twice daily for 7 days to 6 adult subjects with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis. The results show that the drug caused a slight lowering of adrenal corticosteroid secretion.

If HPA axis suppression is documented, an attempt should be made to gradually withdraw the drug, to reduce the frequency of application, or to substitute a less potent corticosteroid. Recovery of HPA axis function is generally prompt upon discontinuation of topical corticosteroids. Infrequently, signs and symptoms of glucocorticosteroid insufficiency may occur, requiring supplemental systemic corticosteroids.

Pediatric patients may be more susceptible to systemic toxicity from equivalent doses due to their larger skin surface to body mass ratios [see Use in Specific Populations (8.4)].

5.2 Ophthalmic Adverse Reactions

Use of topical corticosteroids may increase the risk of posterior subcapsular cataracts and glaucoma. Cataracts and glaucoma have been reported in postmarketing experience with the use of topical corticosteroid products, including the topical mometasone products [see Adverse Reactions (6.2)].

Avoid contact of ELOCON Ointment with eyes. Advise patients to report any visual symptoms and consider referral to an ophthalmologist for evaluation.

5.3 Allergic Contact Dermatitis

If irritation develops, ELOCON Ointment should be discontinued and appropriate therapy instituted. Allergic contact dermatitis with corticosteroids is usually diagnosed by observing failure to heal rather than noting a clinical exacerbation. Such an observation should be corroborated with appropriate diagnostic patch testing.

5.4 Concomitant Skin Infections

If concomitant skin infections are present or develop, an appropriate antifungal or antibacterial agent should be used. If a favorable response does not occur promptly, use of ELOCON Ointment should be discontinued until the infection has been adequately controlled.

6.1 Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice.

In controlled clinical trials involving 812 subjects, the incidence of adverse reactions associated with the use of ELOCON Ointment was 4.8%. Reported reactions included burning, pruritus, skin atrophy, tingling/stinging, and furunculosis. Cases of rosacea associated with the use of ELOCON Ointment have been reported.

The following adverse reactions were reported to be possibly or probably related to treatment with ELOCON Ointment during a clinical study in 5% of 63 pediatric subjects 6 months to 2 years of age: decreased glucocorticoid levels, 1; an unspecified skin disorder, 1; and a bacterial skin infection, 1. The following signs of skin atrophy were also observed among 63 subjects treated with ELOCON Ointment in a clinical trial: shininess, 4; telangiectasia, 1; loss of elasticity, 4; loss of normal skin markings, 4; and thinness, 1.

6.2 Postmarketing Experience

Because adverse reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

Postmarketing reports for local adverse reactions to topical corticosteroids include irritation, dryness, folliculitis, hypertrichosis, acneiform eruptions, hypopigmentation, perioral dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, secondary infection, skin atrophy, striae, and miliaria. These adverse reactions may occur more frequently with the use of occlusive dressings.

Postmarketing reports for ophthalmic adverse reactions to topical corticosteroids include blurred vision, cataracts, glaucoma, increased intraocular pressure, and central serous chorioretinopathy.

8.1 Pregnancy

8.3 Nursing Mothers

Systemically administered corticosteroids appear in human milk and could suppress growth, interfere with endogenous corticosteroid production, or cause other untoward effects. It is not known whether topical administration of corticosteroids could result in sufficient systemic absorption to produce detectable quantities in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when ELOCON Ointment is administered to a nursing woman.

8.4 Pediatric Use

ELOCON Ointment may be used with caution in pediatric patients 2 years of age or older, although the safety and efficacy of drug use for longer than 3 weeks have not been established. Since safety and efficacy of ELOCON Ointment have not been established in pediatric patients below 2 years of age, its use in this age group is not recommended.

ELOCON Ointment caused HPA axis suppression in approximately 27% of pediatric subjects ages 6 to 23 months, who showed normal adrenal function by Cortrosyn test before starting treatment, and were treated for approximately 3 weeks over a mean body surface area of 39% (range 15%-99%). The criteria for suppression were: basal cortisol level of ≤5 mcg/dL, 30-minute post-stimulation level of ≤18 mcg/dL, or an increase of <7 mcg/dL. Follow-up testing 2 to 4 weeks after stopping treatment, available for 8 of the subjects, demonstrated suppressed HPA axis function in 3 subjects, using these same criteria. Long-term use of topical corticosteroids has not been studied in this population [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.2)].

Because of a higher ratio of skin surface area to body mass, pediatric patients are at a greater risk than adults of HPA axis suppression and Cushing's syndrome when they are treated with topical corticosteroids. They are, therefore, also at greater risk of glucocorticosteroid insufficiency during and/or after withdrawal of treatment. Pediatric patients may be more susceptible than adults to skin atrophy, including striae, when they are treated with topical corticosteroids. Pediatric patients applying topical corticosteroids to greater than 20% of body surface are at higher risk of HPA axis suppression.

HPA axis suppression, Cushing's syndrome, linear growth retardation, delayed weight gain, and intracranial hypertension have been reported in children receiving topical corticosteroids. Manifestations of adrenal suppression in children include low plasma cortisol levels and absence of response to ACTH stimulation. Manifestations of intracranial hypertension include bulging fontanelles, headaches, and bilateral papilledema.

ELOCON Ointment should not be used in the treatment of diaper dermatitis.

8.5 Geriatric Use

Clinical trials of ELOCON Ointment included 310 subjects who were 65 years of age and over and 57 subjects who were 75 years of age and over. No overall differences in safety or effectiveness were observed between these subjects and younger subjects, and other reported clinical experience has not identified differences in responses between the elderly and younger subjects. However, greater sensitivity of some older individuals cannot be ruled out.

12.1 Mechanism of Action

Like other topical corticosteroids, mometasone furoate has anti-inflammatory, antipruritic, and vasoconstrictive properties. The mechanism of the anti-inflammatory activity of the topical steroids, in general, is unclear. However, corticosteroids are thought to act by the induction of phospholipase A2 inhibitory proteins, collectively called lipocortins. It is postulated that these proteins control the biosynthesis of potent mediators of inflammation such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes by inhibiting the release of their common precursor arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is released from membrane phospholipids by phospholipase A2.

12.2 Pharmacodynamics

Studies performed with ELOCON Ointment indicate that it is in the medium range of potency as compared with other topical corticosteroids.

In a study evaluating the effects of mometasone furoate ointment on the HPA axis, 15 grams were applied twice daily for 7 days to 6 adult subjects with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis. The ointment was applied without occlusion to at least 30% of the body surface. The results showed that the drug caused a slight lowering of adrenal corticosteroid secretion [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].

Sixty-three pediatric subjects ages 6 to 23 months, with atopic dermatitis, were enrolled in an open-label HPA axis safety study. ELOCON Ointment was applied once daily for approximately 3 weeks over a mean body surface area of 39% (range 15%-99%). In approximately 27% of subjects who showed normal adrenal function by Cortrosyn test before starting treatment, adrenal suppression was observed at the end of treatment with ELOCON Ointment. The criteria for suppression were: basal cortisol level of ≤5 mcg/dL, 30-minute post-stimulation level of ≤18 mcg/dL, or an increase of <7 mcg/dL. Follow-up testing 2 to 4 weeks after stopping treatment, available for 8 of the subjects, demonstrated suppressed HPA axis function in 3 subjects, using these same criteria [see Use in Specific Populations (8.4)].

12.3 Pharmacokinetics

The extent of percutaneous absorption of topical corticosteroids is determined by many factors including the vehicle and the integrity of the epidermal barrier. Studies in humans indicate that approximately 0.7% of the applied dose of ELOCON Ointment enters the circulation after 8 hours of contact on normal skin without occlusion. Inflammation and/or other disease processes in the skin may increase percutaneous absorption.

13.1 Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

Long-term animal studies have not been performed to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of ELOCON Ointment. Long-term carcinogenicity studies of mometasone furoate were conducted by the inhalation route in rats and mice. In a 2-year carcinogenicity study in Sprague Dawley rats, mometasone furoate demonstrated no statistically significant increase of tumors at inhalation doses up to 67 mcg/kg (approximately 0.04 times the estimated maximum clinical topical dose from ELOCON Ointment on a mcg/m2 basis). In a 19-month carcinogenicity study in Swiss CD-1 mice, mometasone furoate demonstrated no statistically significant increase in the incidence of tumors at inhalation doses up to 160 mcg/kg (approximately 0.05 times the estimated maximum clinical topical dose from ELOCON Ointment on a mcg/m2 basis).

Mometasone furoate increased chromosomal aberrations in an in vitro Chinese hamster ovary cell assay, but did not increase chromosomal aberrations in an in vitro Chinese hamster lung cell assay. Mometasone furoate was not mutagenic in the Ames test or mouse lymphoma assay, and was not clastogenic in an in vivo mouse micronucleus assay, a rat bone marrow chromosomal aberration assay, or a mouse male germ-cell chromosomal aberration assay. Mometasone furoate also did not induce unscheduled DNA synthesis in vivo in rat hepatocytes.

In reproductive studies in rats, impairment of fertility was not produced in male or female rats by subcutaneous doses up to 15 mcg/kg (approximately 0.01 times the estimated maximum clinical topical dose from ELOCON Ointment on a mcg/m2 basis).

ELOCON Ointment is a white to off-white uniform ointment and supplied in 15-gram (NDC 0085-0370-01) and 45-gram (NDC 0085-0370-02) tubes; boxes of one.

Store at 25°C (77°F); excursions permitted to 15-30°C (59-86°F) [see USP Controlled Room Temperature].