LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Cyclosporine
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Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive agent derived from Tolypocladium inflatum gams, a fungus originally isolated from a Norwegian soil sample. The agent is used extensively to control rejection of organ transplants, especially of liver, heart, or kidney. The effectiveness of cyclosporine results from specific and reversible inhibition of immunocompetent lymphocytes in the Go-and G1-phase of the cell cycle. T-lymphocytes are preferentially inhibited. The T-helper cell is the main target, although the T-suppressor cell may ... be suppressed. Cyclosporine also inhibits lymphokine production and release, including interleukin-2.
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Cyclosporine is a relatively new drug. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1983 for use in all transplant patients. Before the use of cyclosporine, live organs could be transplanted from one body to another, but the drugs necessary to prevent rejection of the foreign tissue weakened the patient's entire immune system. Frequently patients could not survive the severe infections that followed transplants, and mortality (death) rates for transplant patients were discouragingly high. The discovery of cyclosporine brought about a major shift in the success of transplantation.
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Cyclosporine is available in its original form and as another product that has been modified (changed) so that the medication can be better absorbed in the body. Original cyclosporine and cyclosporine (modified) are absorbed by the body in different amounts, so they cannot be substituted for one another. Take only the type of cyclosporine that was prescribed by your doctor. When your doctor gives you a written prescription, check to be sure that he or she has specified the type of cyclosporine you should receive. Each time you have your prescription filled, look at the brand name printed on your prescription label to be sure that you have received the same type of cyclosporine. Talk to your pharmacist if the brand name is unfamiliar or you are not sure you have received the right type of cyclosporine.
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The initial oral dose of Cyclosporine should be given 4 to 12 hours prior to transplantation as a single dose of 15 mg/kg. Although a daily single dose of 14 to 18 mg/kg was used in most clinical trials, few centers continue to use the highest dose, most favoring the lower end of the scale. There is a trend towards use of even lower initial doses for renal transplantation in the ranges of 10 to 14 mg/kg/day. The initial single daily dose is continued postoperatively for 1 to 2 weeks and then tapered by 5% per week to a maintenance dose of 5 to 10 mg/kg/day. Some centers have successfully tapered the maintenance dose to as low as 3 mg/kg/day in selected renal transplant patients without an apparent rise in rejection rate.
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Cyclosporine was originally developed to prevent organ transplant rejection and continues to be a primary medication in organ transplantation. Dosage and blood levels are extremely important to prevent organ rejection as well as toxic effects of the drug. However, cyclosporine is now being used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as RA and psoriasis. While cyclosporine is not recommended as primary treatment in autoimmune disease states, it does offer another course of action if more traditional treatments have failed. The dosage varies depending on the disease state as well as the patient's specific parameters. Contraindications, precautions, side effects, adverse drug reactions, drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, and patient counseling are very similar in any of the disease states being treated with cyclosporine.
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Cyclosporine is given after organ transplant surgery to help prevent rejection of organs (kidney, heart, or liver) by holding down the body's immune system. It is ... used to avoid long-term rejection in people previously treated with other immunosuppressant drugs, such as Imuran. Neoral is a newer formulation of Cyclosporine's active ingredient, cyclosporine. In addition to prevention of organ rejection, it is prescribed for certain severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Some doctors also prescribe Cyclosporine to treat alopecia areata (localized areas of hair loss), aplastic anemia (shortage of red and white blood cells and platelets), Crohn's disease (chronic inflammation of the digestive tract), and nephropathy (kidney disease). Cyclosporine is sometimes used in the treatment of severe skin disorders, including psoriasis and dermatomyositis (inflammation of the skin and muscles causing weakness and rash).
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Cyclosporine