Montelukast - Indications, side effects. Singular indications.

Montelukast is an orally dosed drug that is FDA Approved for treating asthma and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. It is also used for allergic rhinitis.
Montelukast is one of the most prescribed drugs in the united states.
Montelukast is mainly used as a complementary therapy in adults in addition to inhaled corticosteroids, if inhaled steroids alone do not bring the desired effect.
Best Time for intake of Montelukast for asthma is in the evening.
For Prophylaxis of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, montelukast should be administered at least 2 hours before initiating exercise.
For patients with allergic rhinitis, the dose may be taken in the morning or the evening.
Recommended doses are 10 mg for patients aged 15 years and older and 5 mg for patients aged six to 14 years.
Montelukast Generally is not First Line treatment of asthma, but it can be used as
Effective initial preventer therapy for children with mild asthma.
It is also indicated in the prophylaxis of asthma in which the predominant component is exercise-induced bronchospasm.
Mechanism of action:
Montelukast works as a leukotriene receptor antagonist, leukotriene D4 in the lungs, resulting in decreased inflammation and relaxation smooth muscle.

Side effects:
Common side effects include: abdominal pain, cough and headache.
Severe side effects are rare, but may include: allergic reaction, and anaphylaxis very rare.
Rare (may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people taking montelukast), but serious side effects include, Neuropsychiatric reactions, behavioral changes: anxiousness, dream abnormalities and hallucinations, depression, irritability, restlessness, and tremor. angioedema, erythema multiforme, and liver problems.
Use in pregnancy appears to be safe.


Montelukast has very few drug-drug interactions. But it inhibits enzyme CYP2C8 and can affect drugs which are metabolized by this enzyme.

Absorption: Montelukast is quickly absorbed following oral administration. After the 10 mg film-coated tablet is administered to fasted adults, the mean peak montelukast plasma concentration (C max) is achieved in 3 to 4 hours (T max). The mean oral bioavailability is 64%. A standard meal does not influence the oral bioavailability.
Elimination: Montelukast and metabolites are excreted almost singly via the bile. The pharmacokinetics of montelukast is linear for doses up to 50 mg.
Montelukast is contraindicated in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to the drug or its components. In addition, for patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), caution should be exercised with phenylalanine-containing formulations.

Montelukast is available under the following different brand names: Singulair.
By BruceBlaus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...