BACKGROUND Triggered by heightened interest in mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for the treatment of autoimmune diseases (AID) and encouraged by the results from a previous study, we hypothesized that therapeutic drug monitoring of mycophenolic acid (MPA) based on troughs may be useful for effective MMF dosing in patients with AID. METHODS A two-step approach was pursued. First, we confirmed in 38...

Herb-drug interactions have received more attention in recent years because of the widespread popularity of herbal supplements. However, there are limited data on the effect of herbs on glucuronidation in humans. The goal of this work was to examine the effect of Ginkgo biloba extract and its main flavonoid and terpene lactone constituents on mycophenolic acid (MPA) 7-O-glucuronidation. Human l...

BACKGROUND Both mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and azathioprine (AZA) are immunosuppressive drugs that inhibit purine synthesis. In theory, MMF selectively inhibits lymphocyte proliferation, while AZA has well-known effects on red blood cells and thrombocytes as well. In renal transplant recipients we replaced CsA therapy by MMF in an attempt to reduce the immunosuppressive load 1 year after kidne...

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is the active ingredient in the increasingly important immunosuppressive pharmaceuticals CellCept (Roche) and Myfortic (Novartis). Despite the long history of MPA, the molecular basis for its biosynthesis has remained enigmatic. Here we report the discovery of a polyketide synthase (PKS), MpaC, which we successfully characterized and identified as responsible for MPA pro...

Inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMP-DH) activities were measured in human lymphocytes (exhibiting type I IMP-DH activity) and human lymphoblasts (exhibiting type II IMP-DH activity) in the presence of various amounts of mycophenolic acid (MPA) (0-20 mumol/L) and MPA glucuronide (MPAG) (0-200 mumol/L). Moreover, the influences of human serum albumin (HSA) and human plasma on the MPA- and...

With the increasing use of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in solid organ transplantation, the need for more accurate drug dosing has become evident. Personalized immunosuppressive therapy requires better strategies for avoidance of drug-related toxicity while maintaining efficacy. Few studies have assessed the clinical usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of MPA in solid organ transplantati...

Twenty of 80 strains of Penicillium roqueforti were able to produce up to 600 mg of mycophenolic acid (MPA) liter in 2% yeast extract-5% sucrose broth. Sixty-two of these strains had been isolated from the main blue-veined cheese varieties of western Europe or from starter cultures. Of these 62 dairy strains, only 7 had MPA-producing potential in vitro. These seven strains had all been isolated...

(Received: Feb. 24, 2013; Accepted in Revised Form: April 9, 2013) Abstract: Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is an antibiotic and immunosuppressive agent, as a secondary metabolite of Penicillium brevicompactum. Parameter optimization of culture composition using Test plan L16, available in the form of an orthogonal array and software for automatic design and analysis of the experiments, both based on ...

The immunosuppressive drug mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is used after nonmyeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT); however, limited pharmacodynamic data are available. We evaluated plasma concentrations of mycophenolic acid (MPA), the active metabolite of MMF, and outcomes in 85 patients with hematologic malignancies conditioned with fludarabine and 2 Gy total body irradiation foll...

Polyomavirus BK (BKV)-associated nephropathy causes premature kidney transplant (KT) failure. BKV viruria and viremia are biomarkers of disease progression, but associated risk factors are controversial. A total of 682 KT patients receiving basiliximab, mycophenolic acid (MPA), corticosteroids were randomized 1:1 to cyclosporine (CsA) or tacrolimus (Tac). Risk factors were analyzed in 629 (92.2...