October 28, 2024, Immune Tolerance
Immunosuppressive drugs, also known as immunosuppressants, are commonly referred to as anti-rejection drugs. To prevent rejection, kidney transplant recipients need to take long-term immunosuppressive drugs, often combining three or even four different immunosuppressive drugs, with varying combination strategies. So, how many oral immunosuppressive drugs are currently available on the market? This is a question that kidney patients with a curiosity for exploring the unknown likely ponder repeatedly. Would you simply combine them and start taking them?
Now, Dr. Wang will discuss this topic with you, our kidney patients, but only superficially. . . . .
There are numerous commonly used oral immunosuppressive drugs, too many for Dr. Wang to count. However, Dr. Wang knows they can be categorized into several types! Based on the mechanisms of action of different drugs, they can be divided into the following categories:
Adrenocortical hormones: Common drugs include prednisone, prednisolone, and methylprednisolone, among others.
Calcineurin inhibitors: Commonly used drugs include cyclosporine A (e.g., Neoral, Sandimmune), tacrolimus (e.g., Prograf, commonly known as FK506, Advagraf sustained-release capsules, and generic tacrolimus);
Antimetabolic or antiproliferative drugs: Commonly used drugs include mycophenolate mofetil (e.g., CellCept, Myfortic), and purine analogs (e.g., azathioprine, mizoribine);
Other classes: e.g., sirolimus (e.g., Rapamune).
The topic of drug combinations is highly specialized and nuanced, making it challenging for Dr. Wang to explain comprehensively in fewer than 10,000 words. Here’s a simple, memorable basic principle: from each of the above four drug categories, select no more than one drug!
I hope the above information satisfies the curiosity of some kidney patients eager to explore this topic!
