Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023418 (leukemia)
 93,477 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Of the many varieties of drug interactions, which occur when the disposition or actions of one drug are changed by another, only a few are serious or potentially fatal. A representative outline of some of these illustrates the problem. Precipitant drugs are those which produce the interaction, and object drugs are those whose effects are changed. The interactions which are usually significant are those which alter the metabolism, involve renal excretion, or change the effects of the object drug, especially when the object drug has a low therapeutic index (cardiovascular drugs, anticoagulants, drugs acting on the brain, hypoglycemic drugs, hormones, and cytotoxic drugs). Warfarin toxicity, for example, is produced by aspirin, phenylbutazone, and azapropazone. The dosage requirements of warfarin are reduced by chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin and other quinolones, erythromycin and some of the other macrolides, metronidazole and other imidazoles, tetracyclines, amiodarone, cimetidine (but not ranitidine), and fibrates. Potassium-depleting drugs can potentiate the action of digoxin, and the elimination of digoxin can be reduced by amiodarone, propafenone, quinidine, and verapamil. Combined oral contraceptives can lose effectiveness through the interaction of carbamazepine, griseofulvin, phenytoin, or rifampicin, which increase estrogen metabolism. In addition, broad-spectrum antibiotics such as ampicillin or tetracyclines also reduce contraceptive effectiveness by altering gut absorption. Even a single drink of an alcoholic beverage may be dangerous to people taking antidepressants, antihistamines, antipsychotic drugs, benzodiazepines, or lithium. Antihistamines suffer inhibited metabolism in the liver if taken in conjunction with the antifungal imidazoles and some of the macrolide antibiotics. Cardiotoxicity of antihistamines is also enhanced by drugs with similar cardiotoxic effects. Lithium potentiation is enhanced by the new serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, and lithium excretion can be reduced by diuretics or fluoxetine. When drugs such as antifungal imidazoles, azapropazone, or phenylbutazone are permitted to inhibit the metabolism of sulphonylureas, hypoglycemic effects are enhanced and, if unnoticed, may cause brain damage. Fibrates should not be combined with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors because of the increased risk of myopathy. Patients taking non-selective monoamine oxidase inhibitors should avoid amine-containing foods and drugs such as matured cheeses, meat, yeast extracts, some wines, unfresh protein, and cold-curing medications. The metabolism of azathioprine is inhibited by allopurinol, and this combination requires a reduced dosage of azathioprine. Mercaptopurine, used in the treatment of leukemia, is also a metabolite of azathioprine. Sources of comprehensive information on drug interactions are 1) the "British National Formulary," appendix 1; 2) Chapter 10 of "The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Therapy"; and 3) a monograph by Stockley entitled "Drug Interactions."
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PMID:Serious drug interactions. 790 48

Mercaptopurine and thioguanine are anticancer and immunosuppressive agents that exert their primary cytotoxic effects via incorporation of deoxythioguanosine (dG(s)) into DNA, but the precise mechanism(s) by which this causes cytotoxicity remains unknown. We initially determined that the level of dG(s) incorporation into DNA of human T- and B-lineage leukemia cell lines did not correlate significantly with the extent of cytotoxicity (IC(50)), except that there was no cytotoxicity in the absence of dG(s) incorporation. To elucidate biological processes perturbed by dG(s) incorporation into DNA, we chemically synthesized oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing a single dG(s) (11 mer and 19 mer), which decreased the melting temperature (T(m)) of DNA-DNA duplexes without major structural changes, as evidenced by circular dichroism spectra. Using nuclear extracts from human lymphoblastic leukemia cells (CCRF-CEM, NALM6, and Molt4), we documented that dG(s) incorporation into the DNA strand of DNA-RNA heteroduplexes significantly inhibited human RNase H-catalyzed RNA cleavage (80-90% inhibition) and that a similar inhibition was evident with bacterial RNase H. These data provide the first evidence that thiopurines inhibit the function of RNase H, indicating that their mechanism of cytotoxicity may involve interference with this component of the replication machinery.
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PMID:Human RNase H-mediated RNA cleavage from DNA-RNA duplexes is inhibited by 6-deoxythioguanosine incorporation into DNA. 1049 69

Mercaptopurine is a purine analog used for acute lymphoblatic leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemias. Since it is inactivated by xanthine oxidase (XO), concurrent intake of substances containing XO may potentially reduce bioavailability of mercaptopurine. Cow's milk is known to contain a high level of XO. In vitro and in vivo data suggest that concurrent intake of cow's milk may reduce the bioavailability of mercaptopurine. This interaction may be clinically significant. Therefore most patients should try to separate the timing of taking mercaptopurine and drinking milk.
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PMID:Interaction between mercaptopurine and milk. 1804 84

Mercaptopurine has been used in continuing treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia since the mid 1950s. Recent advances in the understanding of thiopurine pharmacology indicated that thioguanine (TG) might be more effective than mercaptopurine (MP). The US and UK cooperative groups began randomised thiopurine trials and agreed prospectively to a meta-analysis. All randomised trials of TG versus MP were sought, and data on individual patients were analysed by standard methods. Combining three trials (from US, UK and Germany), the overall event-free survival (EFS) was not significantly improved with TG (odds ratio (OR)=0.89; 95% confidence interval 0.78-1.03). Apparent differences in results between trials may be partly explained by the different types of patients studied. The larger treatment effect reported in males in the US trial was confirmed in the other trials. There was heterogeneity between sex/age subgroups (P=0.001), with significant EFS benefit of TG only observed for males aged <10 years old (OR=0.70; 0.58-0.84), although this did not result in a significant difference in overall survival (OR=0.83; 0.62-1.10). Additional toxicity occurs with TG. Mercaptopurine remains the standard thiopurine of choice, but further study of TG may be warranted to determine whether it could benefit particular subgroups.
Leukemia 2011 Jun
PMID:Meta-analysis of randomised trials comparing thiopurines in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. 2137 41

Treatment-related toxicity can be life-threatening and is the primary cause of interruption or discontinuation of chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), leading to an increased risk of relapse. Mercaptopurine is an essential component of continuation therapy in all ALL treatment protocols worldwide. Genetic polymorphisms in thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) are known to have a marked effect on mercaptopurine metabolism and toxicity; however, some patients with wild-type TPMT develop toxicity during mercaptopurine treatment for reasons that are not well understood. To identify additional genetic determinants of mercaptopurine toxicity, a genome-wide analysis was performed in a panel of human HapMap cell lines to identify trans-acting genes whose expression and/or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are related to TPMT activity, then validated in patients with ALL. The highest ranking gene with both mRNA expression and SNPs associated with TPMT activity in HapMap cell lines was protein kinase C and casein kinase substrate in neurons 2 (PACSIN2). The association of a PACSIN2 SNP (rs2413739) with TPMT activity was confirmed in patients and knock-down of PACSIN2 mRNA in human leukemia cells (NALM6) resulted in significantly lower TPMT activity. Moreover, this PACSIN2 SNP was significantly associated with the incidence of severe gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity during consolidation therapy containing mercaptopurine, and remained significant in a multivariate analysis including TPMT and SLCO1B1 as covariates, consistent with its influence on TPMT activity. The association with GI toxicity was also validated in a separate cohort of pediatric patients with ALL. These data indicate that polymorphism in PACSIN2 significantly modulates TPMT activity and influences the risk of GI toxicity associated with mercaptopurine therapy.
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PMID:PACSIN2 polymorphism influences TPMT activity and mercaptopurine-related gastrointestinal toxicity. 2489 64

A 12-year-old Saudi girl, known case of T-cell leukemia with CNS relapse. She was diagnosed 2 years ago. Multiple cycles of chemotherapy had been used (Fludarabine, Cytarabine, Methotrexate, Cyclosporine, and Mercaptopurine). She was admitted electively for cord blood transplantation. Afterward, she developed visual, and behavioral change followed by seizure.
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PMID:A child with leukemia and behavioral changes. 2473 15

Mercaptopurine is a drug commonly used in the treatment of different types of cancer, especially acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and autoimmune diseases such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease and in patients receiving organ transplants. It is metabolized by three cytosolic enzymes. One of them, thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT), is responsible for catalysing the methylation reaction of mercaptopurine to 6-methylmercaptopurine, thus inactivating the drug. Individuals with TPMT loss-of-function alleles (*2, *3A, *3B or *3C) can be extremely sensitive to the effect of mercaptopurine, since it can be accumulated, therefore producing haematological toxicity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of TPMT polymorphisms on the pharmacokinetics of mercaptopurine. For that purpose, we used collected pharmacokinetic data from 48 healthy volunteers (all males) who received a single oral dose of mercaptopurine 50 mg in two bioequivalence studies. The volunteers were subsequently genotyped for TPMT *2, *3A, *3B and *3C alleles by real-time PCR. There were four carriers (8.3%) of TPMT*2 and TPMT*3A alleles. Mercaptopurine elimination was affected by TPMT loss-of-function polymorphisms, since heterozygous subjects show 18% higher half-life compared to wild-type individuals. This fact is consistent with the expected since the presence of loss-of-function alleles decreases TPMT enzymatic activity and, thus, affects mercaptopurine elimination. Moreover, mercaptopurine pharmacokinetic parameters were different among races, since Latins showed higher plasma concentrations and lower clearance compared to Caucasians. This fact might be due to a different distribution of polymorphisms in genes, other than TPMT, that also influence the pharmacokinetics of mercaptopurine.
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PMID:Influence of thiopurine S-methyltransferase polymorphisms in mercaptopurine pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers. 3034 60