Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.1.1.67 (thiopurine methyltransferase)
551 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A patient with refractory Crohn's disease had two separate episodes of bone marrow suppression while receiving 50 to 75 mg 6-mercaptopurine a day and 1000 to 1750 mg olsalazine a day. This adverse reaction necessitated dose reduction of 6-mercaptopurine on the first occasion and withdrawal of 6-mercaptopurine and olsalazine on the second occasion. The patient's red blood cell thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) activity was 1.2 U per milliliter red blood cells (low normal range) and her TPMT genotype was wild-type sequence for all known alleles of TPMT that result in low TPMT enzyme activity. In vitro enzyme kinetic studies confirmed the hypothesis that olsalazine and olsalazine-O-sulfate are potent noncompetitive inhibitors of recombinant human TPMT. We suggest that the patient's relatively low baseline level of TPMT activity was inhibited by olsalazine and olsalazine-O-sulfate, leading to decreased clearance of 6-mercaptopurine and its accumulation. This ultimately increased intracellular 6-thiopurine nucleotide levels to toxic concentrations, which caused bone marrow suppression.
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PMID:Olsalazine and 6-mercaptopurine-related bone marrow suppression: a possible drug-drug interaction. 935 98

Knowledge about the clinical pharmacology of medical therapy of inflammatory bowel disease has incrementally advanced. Small studies with mesalamine have suggested that intestinal mucosal concentrations of mesalamine may predict clinical response to mesalamine therapy. Increased expression of glucocorticoid receptor beta and increased expression of the multidrug resistance drug pump P-glycoprotein 170 have been proposed as markers of drug resistance to glucocorticoids. A baseline determination of thiopurine methyltransferase phenotype or genotype may predict early leukopenia in patients treated with azathioprine or 6- mercaptopurine. Serial measurement of erythrocyte 6-thioguanine nucleotides may be useful in tailoring the dose of these medications. A loading dose of intravenous azathioprine does not accelerate the time to response in patients with steroid-treated Crohn's disease; however, standard azathioprine may work more quickly than previously reported. Methotrexate, 15 to 25 mg/wk, is effective for the treatment of Crohn's disease (active or in remission), and there is no significant difference in the erythrocyte concentrations of methotrexate polyglutamate in patients with inflammatory bowel disease receiving 15 mg, compared with 25 mg, subcutaneously on a weekly basis.
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PMID:Clinical pharmacology of inflammatory bowel disease therapies. 1107 44

6-Mercaptopurine and its prodrug counterpart, azathioprine, have proven efficacy in the induction and maintenance of remission, fistula closure, and steroid sparing in patients with Crohn's disease. Long-term follow-up has demonstrated the safety of the purine analogues, with no increased risk of malignancy. For patients with Crohn's disease intolerant or unresponsive to azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate has emerged as an effective alternative. In patients with severe ulcerative colitis, intravenous cyclosporine is highly efficacious in the short term, and with the addition of azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine to oral cyclosporine, long-term remission rates of 60% to 70% can be achieved. Azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine therapy is effective in patients with steroid-dependent or steroid-refractory colitis and is valuable in maintaining remission. Neither methotrexate nor cyclosporine has been shown to be effective for maintenance therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis. Current data are insufficient to recommend routine use of genetic or enzymatic testing of thiopurine methyltransferase or measurements of blood 6-thioguanine metabolites to guide 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine dosing.
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PMID:Immunomodulator Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 1146 77

Azathioprine induced profound myelosuppression linked to TPMT deficiency has now been documented in many patient groups, including those with Crohn's disease. At the start of azathioprine or mercaptopurine therapy, measurement of TPMT activity has a role in identifying the 1 in 300 patients who are at risk of severe myelosuppression when treated with standard thiopurine dosages. During the initial months of azathioprine therapy a knowledge of TPMT status warns of early bone marrow toxicity. In patients established on azathioprine these is no clear evidence to suggest that TPMT is predictive of clinical response or drug toxicity, indicating a role for TPMT in the prediction of early events rather than long term control. In patients with Crohn's disease on long term azathioprine therapy, it is clear that myelosuppression, particularly leucopenia, is caused by other factors in addition to variable TPMT activity and therefore monitoring of blood cell counts throughout treatment is essential.
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PMID:TPMT in the treatment of Crohn's disease with azathioprine. 1575 46

The present study was performed in order to obtain the thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) activity frequency distribution histogram in a Spanish population. A total of 3640 Spanish clinical laboratory samples were evaluated, which included 1249 patients with Crohn's disease, 589 with ulcerative colitis, 348 with multiple sclerosis (MS), 487 with several autoimmune diseases different from the above-mentioned diseases and 967 a donor group. We have measured the TPMT activity in red blood cells (RBCs) by a radiochemical method, using S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-3H]methionine as methyl donor. The different groups present in their entirety a normal distribution histogram and a wide range of TPMT activity from 0 to 41 U/ml RBCs. The differences found between the Spanish population TPMT activity frequency distribution histogram and the pattern previously described in a North American population were not due to azathioprine treatment or gender. The effect of autoimmune diseases on TPMT activity was evaluated: the enzymatic activity was similar in the donor group (19.9 +/- 6.3 U/ml RBCs) and in the patients with Crohn's disease (20.0 +/- 5.8 U/ml RBCs) and ulcerative colitis (19.7 +/- 6.1 U/ml RBCs); however, it decreased significantly (p<0.0001) in MS patients (17.1 +/- 6.1 U/ml RBCs) with respect to the donor group. In conclusion, our results show that the Spanish population TPMT distribution is closer to that of the Jewish population of Israel than to North American populations, and that in MS the enzymatic activity of TPMT decreases significantly. This observation may take into account the usage of azathioprine as therapeutic agent in Spanish MS patients.
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PMID:Thiopurine methyltransferase activity in a Spanish population sample: decrease of enzymatic activity in multiple sclerosis patients. 1212 Jun 97

Management of Crohn's disease has changed considerably in recent years. The discovery of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) as a pivotal cytokine in the inflammatory cascade has led to the development of several neutralizing antibodies, soluble receptors, and small molecules, interfering with TNF gene transcription and expression. Infliximab is the only monoclonal antibody that is commercially available. This potent molecule is effective for both active and fistulizing disease in the acute and maintenance phases of treatment. In addition to anti-TNF agents, weekly methotrexate injection and the classic "antimetabolites" azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine remain highly valuable as maintenance drugs. "Tailored" antimetabolite therapy has now become possible with metabolite measurements and determination of the TPMT gene. The active metabolite thioguanine itself could be a promising alternative in patients who are intolerant of 6-mercaptopurine. In fistulizing disease, infliximab is becoming the treatment of choice, although fistula tracks do not disappear permanently and many patients still need surgical intervention.
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PMID:Advances in medical therapy for Crohn's disease. 1244 Oct 41

The purine analogues 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and azathioprine have been found to be safe and efficacious in both inducing remission of Crohn's disease in adults and maintaining remission in adults and children. In addition, steroid-sparing effects are demonstrable in trials of both adults and children with Crohn's disease. Anecdotal reports of adults and very limited data from children also suggest that azathioprine and 6-MP might help prevent postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease. Regarding safety, adults and children reported similar rates of adverse effects from the use of these agents: reported adverse effects in adults included significant infection (7.4%), pancreatitis (3.3%), neoplasm (3.1%), bone marrow suppression (2.0%), allergy (2.0%), and drug-induced hepatitis (0.3%). Most studies also suggest there is little, if any, probability that immunomodulatory therapy might increase the risk of malignancy in patients with Crohn's disease. Data are too limited to guide clinical decisions on how long immunomodulatory therapy should be continued, whether it is safe to take azathioprine and 6-MP during pregnancy, and whether men can take these agents at the time of conception. Although 6-MP and azathioprine have been used safely for over 30 years, the recent commercial availability of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) genotype/phenotype testing and 6-MP metabolite testing offers the promise of limiting potential toxicity even more. As a result, these agents will continue to play a central therapeutic role for all clinicians caring for children or adults with Crohn's disease.
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PMID:Therapeutic efficacy and safety of 6-mercaptopurine and azathioprine in patients with Crohn's disease. 1268 86

Human thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) catalyses the S-methylation of thiopurine drugs. TPMT is genetically polymorphic and is associated with large interindividual variations in thiopurine drug toxicity and therapeutic efficacy. During routine genotyping of patients with Crohn's disease, one novel missense mutation, 365A>C (TPMT*19, Lys(122)Thr), and a recently described missense mutation, 488G>A (TPMT*16, Arg(163)His), were identified in a Caucasian and a Moroccan patient, respectively. Using a heterologous yeast expression system, kinetic parameters (K(m) and V(max)) of the two variants with respect to 6-thioguanine S-methylation were determined and compared with those obtained with the wild-type enzyme. The Lys(122)Thr exchange did not significantly decrease the intrinsic clearance value (V(max)/K(m)) of the variant enzyme. In contrast, the Arg(163)His substitution significantly decreased the intrinsic clearance value by three-fold. The Arg(163) is located in a highly conserved region of the human TPMT protein and, as such, the Arg(163)His substitution is expected to result in a marked reduction of enzyme activity, as confirmed by the in vitro data. Phenotyping by measurement of red blood cell TPMT activity indicated that the patient heterozygous for the Lys(122)Thr mutation had normal TPMT activity, whereas the patient heterozygous for the Arg(163)His mutation was an intermediate methylator, which demonstrated a positive correlation between TPMT phenotyping and the in vitro data. The identification of a novel non-functional allele of the TPMT gene improves our knowledge of the genetic basis of interindividual variability in TPMT activity. These data further enhance the efficiency of genotyping methods to predict patients at risk of an inadequate response to thiopurine therapy.
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PMID:Identification and functional analysis of two rare allelic variants of the thiopurine S-methyltransferase gene, TPMT*16 and TPMT*19. 1565 43

Azathioprine, mercaptopurine, methotrexate, ciclosporin and tacrolimus all have their respective niches in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. These immunomodulators are potent and effective medications; however, they potentially have serious toxicity. To maximize benefit and minimize risk, clinicians must understand the mechanism of action, appropriate indications, range of toxicity and proper dosing of these medications. Furthermore, once initiating therapy, patients need to be monitored appropriately for evidence of efficacy and toxicity. This review includes the rationale behind recommendations for the management and monitoring of patients using immunomodulators. For the purine antagonists--azathioprine and mercaptopurine--the evidence for utility of thiopurine methyltransferase testing and mercaptopurine metabolite monitoring is addressed. The roles of liver biopsy and screening for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase mutations in patients taking methotrexate are reviewed. With appropriate monitoring, the calcineurin inhibitors--ciclosporin and tacrolimus--can be used safely and effectively. Immunomodulators are important agents for the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and prescribing clinicians should be comfortable recognizing both their value and their limitations.
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PMID:Review article: practical management of inflammatory bowel disease patients taking immunomodulators. 1596 74

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with its two subforms of Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, is a polygenic disease that manifests due to environmental trigger factors on the background of a complex genetic predisposition. The first risk gene underlying susceptibility to Crohn disease has been identified as CARD15 (located on chromosome 16q12, encoding NOD2). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms in the leucine rich region (LRR) of this gene are strongly and independently associated with Crohn disease susceptibility and explain up to 20% of the total genetic predisposition for Crohn disease. These variants have been consistently replicated as associated with a particular sub-phenotype characterized by small bowel (ileum) involvement and early age at onset. Presently, genetic testing for the CARD15 variants has only a modest relevance in clinical practice. The most attractive use of genetic testing is for the prediction of response to therapy. Most therapies only show efficacy in subgroups of patients and no clinical parameters are available to distinguish, prior to therapy, whether the patients will be responders or non-responders, or if the patients will experience adverse effects. The pharmacogenetic basis of toxicity is well known for azathioprine: several thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) polymorphisms that are associated with reduced activity of this thiopurine drug metabolizing enzyme result in cytotoxic and immunosuppressive adverse effects of azathioprine. Genetic screening, which has found its way into routine clinical diagnostics, allows the identification of the patients who will not tolerate a standard dose of the drug. The extensive search for genetic predictors of response to the anti-tumor necrosis factor treatment with infliximab, which results in a remission rate of 30-40%, has, however, failed to identify a variation associated with a differential response.
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PMID:Genetic testing in Crohn disease: utility in individualizing patient management. 1607 58


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