Cellcept is mycophenolate mofetil.
Quote:
Mycophenolate (Cellcept) is used with other medications to prevent transplant rejection (attack of the transplanted organ by the transplant recipient's immune system) in people who have received kidney, heart, and liver transplants. Mycophenolate (Myfortic) is used with other medications to prevent the body from rejecting kidney transplants. Mycophenolate is in a class of medications called immunosuppressive agents. It works by weakening the body's immune system so it will not attack and reject the transplanted organ.
For more Medline information
It has been used/tested on people with MS for a long time. Here are a couple of study abstracts:
Mycophenolate mofetil in multiple sclerosis.
Clin Neuropharmacol. 2004 Mar-Apr;27(2):80-3.
Frohman EM, Brannon K, Racke MK, Hawker K.
Department of Neurology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA.
elliot.frohman@utsouthwestern.edu
OBJECTIVE: To describe experience with the use of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).
BACKGROUND: MMF is a potent immunosuppressant that is a selective inhibitor of inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase type II, the enzyme responsible for the de novo synthesis of the purine nucleotide guanine within activated T and B lymphocytes and macrophages.
METHODS: A retrospective review of experience in treating 79 MS patients with MMF (61 with secondary progressive, 14 with relapsing-remitting, and 4 with primary progressive MS) in the authors' MS center.
RESULTS: In most cases, MMF was added as adjunctive therapy in patients already being treated with either interferon-beta (n = 44) or glatiramer acetate (n = 20). Fifteen patients not able to use interferon or glatiramer acetate were treated with MMF monotherapy. Seventy percent of the patients continued MMF therapy. Eight patients discontinued therapy because of side effects, 7 patients continued to exhibit evidence of disease progression, 4 were denied insurance coverage, 2 were lost to follow-up, and 1 patient had an elevation of hepatic transaminases that resolved on discontinuation of MMF. One patient discontinued MMF therapy secondary to cytomegalovirus diarrhea.
CONCLUSION: MMF was well tolerated by the majority of patients treated. While these clinical observations were uncontrolled, the clinical course of MS was either unchanged or subjectively improved in many of the treated patients. A randomized controlled trial of MMF in MS, either as monotherapy or in conjunction with interferon or glatiramer acetate, appears warranted.
Pubmed link
Combination of IFN beta-1a (Avonex) and mycophenolate mofetil (Cellcept) in multiple sclerosis.
Eur J Neurol. 2007 Jan;14(1):85-9.
Vermersch P, Waucquier N, Michelin E, Bourteel H, Stojkovic T, Ferriby D, de Seze J; G-SEP (Groupe septentrional d'études et de prise en charge de la sclérose en plaques).
Department of Neurology, Hôpital Roger Salengro, Lille, France.
pvermersch@chru-lille.fr
To determine the safety of a combination of mycophenolate mofetil (Cellcept, MMF) and IFNbeta-1a (Avonex) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and to evaluate the effects of the combination on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of disease activity. Secondary objectives were clinical and MRI data.
An open-label, single-centre study including 30 RRMS patients was performed. Inclusion criteria were patients expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score <6.0, treated by Avonex for at least 6 months, with at least two relapses during the previous 2 years and at least one during the previous 6 months. MMF at a progressive dose of 2 g per day orally was added to Avonex for a duration of 6 months. MRI data were obtained at baseline and at the end of the study.
The pre-study annual relapse rate was 2.0 +/- 0.7 and the EDSS score at baseline was 2.9 +/- 1.3. Eleven patients had gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced lesions at baseline for a total number of 35 lesions.
Two patients interrupted the combination, one after the first dose for personal reasons unrelated to the study and the other due to diarrhoea. A few of the patients also reported nausea and abdominal pains. Adverse events included benign infectious diseases, insomnia and dizziness. No significant biological abnormalities were noted. The annualized relapse rate was 0.57 +/- 0.3 at the end of the study (P < 0.001). The mean EDSS score was 2.6 +/- 1.5 and no Gd-enhanced lesions were detected on MRI at the end of the study. MMF and IFNbeta-1a (Avonex) combined therapy is safe and very well-tolerated. Clinical and MRI data suggest that this combination may be beneficial.
Pubmed link
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