Cellcept 500 mg

Cellcept is an immunosuppressant medication used to prevent rejection following organ transplantation in adults and to treat Crohn's disease. Specifically, it is used following kidney, heart, lung, and liver transplantation. Mycophenolate is increasingly utilized as a steroid-sparing treatment in autoimmune diseases and similar immune-mediated disorders including Behcet's disease, pemphigus Vulgaris, immunoglobulin A nephropathy, small vessel vasculitides, and psoriasis.

Its increasing application in treating lupus nephritis has demonstrated more frequent complete response and less frequent complications compared to cyclophosphamide bolus therapy, a regimen with the risk of bone marrow suppression, infertility, and malignancy. Further work addressing maintenance therapy demonstrated mycophenolate superior to cyclophosphamide, again in terms of response and side-effects. Walsh proposed that mycophenolate should be considered as first-line induction therapy for the treatment of lupus nephritis in people without kidney dysfunction.

Side effects:

• nausea
• infections
• diarrhea
• increased risk of cancer
• progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
• anemia
• gastrointestinal bleeding