User:Mr. Ibrahem/Mycophenolic acid

Mycophenolic acid (MPA), and also called mycophenolate, is an immunosuppressant medication used to prevent rejection following organ transplantation and to treat Crohn's disease, SLE, interstitial lung disease, and scleroderma. Specifically it is used following kidney, heart, and liver transplantation. It can be given by mouth or by injection into a vein. It comes as mycophenolate sodium and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).

Common side effects include nausea, infections, and diarrhea. Other serious side effects include an increased risk of cancer, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, anemia, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Use during pregnancy may harm the baby. Effects when taken by the father is unclear. Mycophenolic acid is in the disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) family of medications. It works by blocking inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), which is needed by lymphocytes to make guanosine.

Mycophenolic acid was initially discovered by Italian Bartolomeo Gosio in 1893. It was rediscovered in 1945 and 1968. It was approved for medical use in the United States in 1995 following the discovery of its immunosuppressive properties in the 1990s. It is available as a generic medication. In the United Kingdom MMF at a dose of 1.5 gram twice daily costs the NHS about £25 per month as of 2021. In the United States this amount is about US$114. In 2017, it was the 254th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than one million prescriptions.