Irbesartan Pharmacology

Real Life Pharmacology - Pharmacology Education for Health Care Professionals

Eric Christianson, PharmD; Pharmacology Expert and Clinical Pharmacist

Education, Health & Fitness, Medicine

5 • 716 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Irbesartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) used primarily for the management of hypertension and diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes.

It selectively inhibits the binding of angiotensin II to the AT1 receptor found in vascular smooth muscle and the adrenal gland. This blockade results in vasodilation, reduced aldosterone secretion, decreased sodium and water retention, and ultimately lower blood pressure.

Irbesartan is administered orally, with a typical starting dose of 150 mg once daily, which may be increased to 300 mg depending on the patient’s clinical response and tolerability.

Adverse effects of irbesartan are generally mild but can include hyperkalemia and dizziness. Hypotension may occur, especially in volume-depleted individuals or those on diuretics.

Routine monitoring of renal function and serum potassium is recommended, especially in patients with underlying kidney disease or those taking potassium-sparing agents or supplements.

Irbesartan is contraindicated in pregnancy due to the risk of fetal toxicity and should be discontinued as soon as pregnancy is detected.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey all, welcome back to the Real Life Pharmacology podcast.
0:03.7	I'm your host, pharmacist, Eric Christensen, and I thank you for listening today.
0:08.4	As always, go check out Real Life Pharmacology.com.
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0:35.7	and support go directly to help support this podcast.
0:39.5	So I greatly appreciate that. Again, that's meded101.com slash store.
0:45.6	All right, the drug of the day today is Irbusartin.
0:48.5	Brand name is Avipro.
0:51.1	This medication is classified as an anti-hypertensive, so naturally it's going to be used to lower blood pressure.
0:58.4	That is going to be the primary use that you're going to see this medication used for.
1:03.3	Now, it can be used for a couple other indications, reduction in the risk of proteneric kidney disease. I may see it off-label
1:13.6	alternative to ACE inhibitors in things like heart failure with reduced ejection
1:19.6	fraction or acute coronary syndromes, for example. So a few other indications you may see it used for,
1:25.6	but again, primarily we're going to see it utilized
1:28.3	for the management of blood pressure it's classification so as you could tell by the ending of the
1:35.3	generic name irbusartin so sartan sartan that's going to be an arb so that's an angiotensin
1:43.0	receptor blocker.
	...

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