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Mycophenolate Mofetil and Azathioprine

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Current and Future Immunosuppressive Therapies Following Transplantation

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Abstract

Antimetabolites have been used as adjunctive immunosuppression for renal transplantation since the early 1960s. Azathioprine was one of the first antimetabolites to be used in chronic immunosuppression protocols having been shown to be effective in renal transplantation in dogs [1] and subsequently in humans [2]. Azathioprine remained a mainstay of chronic immunosuppression protocols until the mid-1990s when it was shown in double-blind randomized trials that mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) had better efficacy for the prevention of acute rejection following renal transplantation [3–5]. Although MMF has replaced azathioprine in chronic immunosuppression protocols, many centers still use azathioprine, particularly in low-risk patients.

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Authors
  1. John D. Pirsch
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  2. Elias David-Neto
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Mohamed H. Sayegh

  2. Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Bergamo, Italy

    Giuseppe Remuzzi

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© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Pirsch, J.D., David-Neto, E. (2001). Mycophenolate Mofetil and Azathioprine. In: Sayegh, M.H., Remuzzi, G. (eds) Current and Future Immunosuppressive Therapies Following Transplantation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1005-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1005-4_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3876-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-1005-4

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