Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027947 (neutropenia)
 17,527 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Among 37 patients treated with levamisole for rheumatoid arthritis (n = 19), for Reiter's disease (n = 4) and for chronic articular brucellosis (n = 14) followed up during 6-12 months, 3 developed agranulocytosis and 3 severe neutropenia. Serum samples drawn before and during treatment were tested for leukocyte agglutinating and lymphocytotoxic antibodies. Leukocyte agglutinating antibodies were induced in 8 patients, in 5 of them in association with agranulocytosis or neutropenia. In 1 patient with agranulocytosis and in another one with neutropenia lymphocytotoxic antibodies were also induced. Two agranulocytotic and one neutropenic patient possessed HLA B27 antigen. In altogether 11 HLA B27 carriers the number of circulating neutrophils were significantly reduced during levamisole treatment when compared with those of patients lacking HLA B27 antigen.
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PMID:Levamisole-induced neutropenia and agranulocytosis: association with HLA B27 leukocyte agglutinating and lymphocytotoxic antibodies. 725 Nov 95

Agranulocytosis is a disorder characterized by a severe decrease in the number of granulocytes in blood, that frequently occurs as an adverse reaction to some drugs. By now, there are no reports in literature of agranulocytosis caused by tumur necrosis factor-alpha blockers. We describe the case of a 20-year-old Caucasian male affected by enteropathic (Crohn's disease) spondyloarthropathy HLA B27 negative, successfully treated with infliximab. After the second infliximab infusion, he was found to have a severe transient neutropenia (0.5 x 10(9)/L). Routine serum chemistry and full blood cell count (apart from neutrophil count) were normal. Serology excluded an active infection. Bone marrow needle aspirate showed a normal trilineage differentiation. Autoantibody assessment showed negative ANA, anti-dsDNA, anti-ENA, and ANCA, but positive granulocyte-bound antibodies (GBA) and neutrophil-specific (CD 16+)-bound antibodies (anti-NA). Ten weeks after infliximab infusion, neutrophil count and GBA and anti-NA assay returned spontaneously within normal range and we observed the same progress after every successive infliximab infusion we performed. These data indicated that infliximab possibly triggered production of granulocyte and neutrophil autoantibodies with resultant autoimmune agranulocytosis.
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PMID:Drug-induced agranulocytosis during treatment with infliximab in enteropathic spondyloarthropathy. 1589 99

The United States Public Health Service Administration is alerting medical professionals that a substantial percentage of cocaine imported into the United States is adulterated with levamisole, a veterinary pharmaceutical that can cause blood cell disorders such as severe neutropenia and agranulocytosis. Levamisole was previously approved in combination with fluorouracil for the treatment of colon cancer; however, the drug was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2000 because of the frequent occurrence of agranulocytosis. The detection of autoantibodies such as antithrombin (lupus anticoagulant) and an increased risk of agranulocytosis in patients carrying the human leukocyte antigen B27 genotype suggest that toxicity is immune-mediated. In this perspective, we provide an historical account of the levamisole/cocaine story as it first surfaced in 2008, including a succinct review of levamisole pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and preclinical/clinical evidence for levamisole-induced agranulocytosis. Based on the available information on levamisole metabolism in humans, we propose that reactive metabolite formation is the rate-limiting step in the etiology of agranulocytosis associated with levamisole, in a manner similar to other drugs (e.g., propylthiouracil, methimazole, captopril, etc.) associated with blood dyscrasias. Finally, considering the toxicity associated with levamisole, we propose that the 2,3,5,6-tetrahydroimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole scaffold found in levamisole be categorized as a new structural alert, which is to be avoided in drug design.
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PMID:Immune-mediated agranulocytosis caused by the cocaine adulterant levamisole: a case for reactive metabolite(s) involvement. 2239 19