BACKGROUND The responsibility of immunosuppressants for the increased risk of skin cancers in organ transplant recipients is widely recognized. Discerning the role of each drug is complicated owing to the fact that most patients generally have combinations of several medications. OBJECTIVE This article will discuss the role of the main immunosuppressants in the pathogenesis of skin cancers. ...

In solid organ transplantation, new approaches able to reflect individual responses are required to monitor immunosuppressive therapy and to improve its safety and efficacy. In the last few years, preliminary studies about the clinical impact of the measurement of new specific biomarkers of exposure (pharmacogenetic biomarkers) and the biological effects (pharmacodynamic biomarkers) of immunosu...

RECENTL Y brequinar sodium (BQR), has been described as a new immunosuppressive drug that inhibits de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. By inhibiting the enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, BQR abrogates both DNA and RNA synthesis during cell proliferation. l In addition, we have recently reported that BQR may also inhibit the activity of cytidine deaminase, which results in the potentiation of BQ...

Aims: We estimated long-term trends in prescription medication utilization and costs in patients with type 1 diabetes in two different transplant cohorts (Group 1: transplantation 1986-1999, n = 180; Group 2: transplantation 2000-2008, n = 150). Methods: Data obtained from the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study were linked with the Drug Prescription Register (purchases of medications 1995-2009)...

sible with LC-MS/MS for combined immunosuppressive therapies where a calcineurin inhibitor is used together with a mTOR inhibitor because both drugs can be quantified with a single assay. Because of its ease and rapidity, this method is ideally suited for the routine monitoring of these four major immunosuppressive drugs in clinical practice. Laboratories using such tests must, however, have su...

In this report we have approached two questions relating to the mechanism of action of cyclosporin A (CsA). First, we address whether the major cytosolic protein for CsA, cyclophilin, is directly involved in mediating the immunosuppressive activity of this drug, and, in particular, whether inhibition of this protein's peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) activity results in inhibition o...

BACKGROUND Diabetes and Nephrotic syndrome (NS) promote plaque-related gingivitis and yeast-like fungal infections. The study assesses the impact of Candida spp. and general disease- or treatment-related factors on plaque-related gingivitis severity in children and adolescents with Nephrotic syndrome /diabetes. METHODS Body mass index (BMI), BMI standard deviation score, and oral cavity (Plaq...

The currently used immunosuppressive drugs have a narrow therapeutic index which required to individualize the dose regimen for different recipients. Pharmacogenetic is the use of genetic screening to prevent metabolic responses to different immunosuppressive drugs. Since the oxidative enzymes cytochrome P450 CYP3A and the drug efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp) play a pivotal role in immunosupp...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation is a well-recognized complication in patients who undergo immunosuppressive drug therapy. Although the recommendation of antiviral prophylaxis made by the American Gastroenterological Association in 2015 focuses on the risk stratification of different immunosuppressive drugs, risk factors for HBV reactivation are also worth identifying in clinical practice. ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (HBVr) in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy is still a hot topic worldwide. Its prevention and management still represents a challenge for specialists dealing with immunosuppressed patients. Aim of this paper is to provide a critical review of the relevant information emerged in the recent literature regarding HBV reactivation following immunosup...