• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2010

Therapeutic drug monitoring of Mycophenolate mofetil(MMF) has been suggested in some clinical trials, but has not been widely adopted in Korea. The purpose of this study was to analyze the withdrawal rates of MMF and determine the characteristics of the patients who experienced adverse reactions with MMF therapy and to suggest the criteria for selecting patients who need monitoring of MMF levels. We retrospectively collected data of patients who started MMF between July 2007 and June 2008. A total of 154 adult patients were included in our study. Among them, ninety seven patients discontinued MMF with 59 cases being due to adverse drug reactions. Thirty one patients required dosage reduction of MMF with twenty three cases being due to adverse reactions. Twenty six patients continued the MMF without or with mild adverse reactions. Of the 82 adverse reaction cases, hematologic adverse reactions accounted for 38 cases (46%) and gastrointestinal (GI) adverse reactions accounted for 28 cases (34%). Older age and lower serum albumin levels were significantly different characteristics between the patients who withdraw MMF due to hematological adverse reactions and those who were able to continue therapy. The group who experienced GI adverse reactions had higher MMF dosages based on body weight and lower serum albumin levels. In conclusion, the factors affecting the adverse reactions of MMF were age, serum albumin level and higher dosage, therefore therapeutic drug monitoring of MMF should be considered in these patients.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.249-261
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• 2024

New anti-lung cancer therapies are urgently required to improve clinical outcomes. Since ganodermanontriol (GDNT) has been identified as a potential antineoplastic agent, its role in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is investigated in this study. Concretely, lung cancer cells were treated with GDNT and/or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), after which MTT assay, flow cytometry and Western blot were conducted. Following bioinformatics analysis, carboxylesterase 2 (CES2) was knocked down and rescue assays were carried out in vitro. Xenograft experiment was performed on mice, followed by drug administration, measurement of tumor growth and determination of CES2, IMPDH1 and IMPDH2 expressions. As a result, the viability of lung cancer cells was reduced by GDNT or MMF. GDNT enhanced the effects of MMF on suppressing viability, promoting apoptosis and inducing cell cycle arrest in lung cancer cells. GDNT up-regulated CES2 level, and strengthened the effects of MMF on down-regulating IMPDH1 and IMPDH2 levels in the cells. IMPDH1 and IMPDH2 were highly expressed in LUAD samples. CES2 was a potential target for GDNT. CES2 knockdown reversed the synergistic effect of GDNT and MMF against lung cancer in vitro. GDNT potentiated the role of MMF in inhibiting tumor growth and expressions of CES2 and IMPDH1/2 in lung cancer in vivo. Collectively, GDNT suppresses the progression of LUAD by activating CES2 to enhance the metabolism of MMF.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.344-348
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• 2006

A 5-year-old, male Yorkshire terrier dog was presented with progressive seizure and anorexia. Definitive diagnosis of necrotizing meningoencephalitis(NME) was made based on characteristic clinical features, brain lesion with MRI, and histopathologic examination. The dog was treated with prednisolone for 20 days, firstly. Prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil(MMF) were then administered for 40 days following the initial therapy. However, the clinical signs were not improved and seizure frequency was increased. This patient survived around 2 months after diagnosis. This case report described the clinical findings, imaging characteristics and pathologic features of NME in a Yorkshire terrier with trial treatment using MMF.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.76-80
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• 2011

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the single most common infection following kidney transplantation and despite prophylactic strategies and the development of new antiviral agents, it still remains a cause of considerable morbidity and mortality. Current literature suggests that CMV infection may trigger rejection. We report a case of late CMV disease in a preemptive seropositive recipient who did not receive CMV prophylaxis. Diarrhea and abdominal cramping persisted after the administration of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) six months after transplantation and resulted in ileal perforation at eight months after transplantation. The boy recovered after six weeks of treatment with ganciclovir. MMF has been mooted as a risk factor for CMV infection since its introduction, and further investigations are required to confirm its role. More attention to infectious complications is necessary and serial monitoring of viral load is recommended when MMF is administered.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.290-294
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• 2016

A 13-month-old intact female poodle dog presented with an acute history of circling and seizure episodes. On the basis of the results of neurologic examination combined with magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid analysis (CSF), meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology (MUE) was suspected. Therapy with mycophenolate mofetil plus prednisolone was initiated, following which the clinical signs showed improvement for only one month before gradually worsening again. Acute progression of the clinical disease was observed, and the patient was euthanized 91 days after initial presentation. This case was definitively diagnosed as necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) according to the results of post-mortem histopathological examination. This report describes the clinical findings, serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics, and histopathological changes in a case of acute NME.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 2008

For solid organ transplant, ABO blood type of donor and recipient should be compatible in principle. Recent improvement of immunosuppressant made HLA typing not so important while no-mismatch transplant still shows the longest graft survival. PRA(panel reactive antibody) test is to screen and identify recipients with HLA sensitization. When solid organ transplant is scheduled, cross-match test of donor cell and recipient serum should be performed and positive result of cross-match prohibits transplantation. Donor specific antibody(DSA) test can predict the severity of recipient immune reaction against donor organ. Today's mainstay of allograft immunosuppressant regimen is triple therapy of steroid, calcineurin inhibitor(cyclosporine, tacrolimus), azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil(MMF). Antibody induction using Thymoglobulin or anti-IL-2 receptor antibody(basiliximab or daclizumab) is frequently practiced as well.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.160-164
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• 2017

C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is a recently defined pathological entity characterized by C3 accumulation with absent or scant immunoglobulin deposition, leading to variable glomerular inflammation. The clinical presentation of patients with C3G is highly variable, as they may present with symptoms ranging from microscopic or mild proteinuria to full-blown nephrotic syndrome, with or without renal impairment. However, there is no consensus recommendation for specific treatment in children with C3G. Recently, new therapies have been suggested to target complement pathways, owing to an improvement in the understanding of the pathogenesis of C3G. C3G complement blockade with eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeted against complement C5, inhibits activation of the alternative complement pathway. We could not use eculizumab owing to its high price; thus, we administered oral prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). MMF was replaced with cyclosporine because proteinuria persisted, with a consistently low serum C3 level; we tapered off the prednisolone because of a Cushingoid appearance and amenorrhea. Thereafter, proteinuria improved, and the serum C3 level returned to normal. Thus, we report the effectiveness of cyclosporine in a patient with C3G and an inadequate response to prednisolone and MMF, who was detected via school urinary screening.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2015

Purpose: Steroid dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS) is a chronic illness in childhood hard to treat. Steroid sparing drugs are often used, because long-term steroid therapy can cause severe side effects. We studied to compare efficacy between MMF and other drugs including cyclosporine and levamisole. Methods: This study was performed retrospectively on patients with SDNS, who were treated at Pusan National University Children's hospital. MMF group included 11 patients who were treated with MMF for at least six months between June 2012 and July 2014. As control groups, cyclosporine group (n=15) and levamisole group (n=18) included patients treated between January 2008 and July 2014. Number of relapse was analyzed in patients treated more than six months, and relapse free for one year was analyzed in patients treated more than one year. Results: In MMF group, ten were boys and mean age at onset was 5.8 years. Mean age at starting of MMF was 8.6 years. Number of relapse in MMF group was reduced significantly after treatment from 3.4 /year to 0.2 /year (P=0.003). There was no significant difference in number of relapse among groups (MMF: 0.2 /year, cyclosporine: 0.5 /year, levamisole: 0.5 /year). Comparing the early relapse within six months after treatment levamisole group was significantly higher than the other two groups (P=0.04). Conclusions: MMF which is used in SDNS significantly reduced the relapse and side effects were rare. In addition, MMF did not show any significant difference in comparison with the other two groups in number of relapse and relapse free for one year.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.65-77
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• 2005

Present article reviews about clinical pharmacology of mycophenolic acid (MPA), the active form of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), as widely used component of immunosuppressive regimens in the organ transplantation field. MMF, used alone or concomitantly with cyclosporine or tacrolimus, has approved in reducing the incidence of acute rejection and has gained widespread use in solid organ such as kidney, heart and liver transplantation. The application of MPA and development of MMF has shown a considerable impact on immunosuppressive therapy for organ transplantation as a new immunosuppressive agent with different mechanism of action from other drugs after early 1990s. In particular aspect, use of MMF, a morpholinoethyl ester of MPA, represented a significant advance in the prevention of organ allograft rejection as well as allograft and patient survival. In considering MMF clinical data, it is important to note that there is a strong correlation between high MPA area under curve(AUC) values and a low probability of acute allograft rejection. Individual trials have shown that MMF is generally well tolerated and revealed that MMF decreased the relative risk of developing chronic allograft rejection compared with azathioprine. Recent clinical investigations suggested that improved effectiveness and tolerability will results from the incorporation of MPA therapeutic drug monitoring into routine clinical practice, providing effective MMF dose individualization in renal and heart transplant patients. Therefore, MMF has a selective immunosuppressive effect with minimal toxicity and has shown to be more effective that other agents as next step of immunosuppressive agents and regimens that deliver effective graft protection and immunosuppression along with a more favorable side effect.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.103-107
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• 2017

A 7-year-old spayed female Shih-tzu dog with 4-month history of anorexia and weight loss was diagnosed with splenic hemangiosarcoma. One week after splenectomy, the dog developed severe, multifocal, coalescing erosive and ulcerative dermatosis with epidermal collarettes and crusts on the dorsal trunk. The dog was prescribed systemic antibiotics comprising cephradine and enrofloxacin postoperatively. Histopathological examination of skin biopsies from haired skin lesions revealed changes consistent with pemphigus foliaceus (PF). Tentative diagnosis for this patient was pemphigus-like drug reaction resulting from cephradine treatment. However, given the dog's history of hemangiosarcoma, paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP), a rarely reported cancer-related pemphigus in dogs, was also considered for tentative diagnosis. Significant clinical remission of dermal lesions was achieved with four weeks of prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) treatment. Drugs were gradually tapered and eventually discontinued with concurrent reduction of dermal lesions, and no further recurrence was noted.