Mercaptopurine: chemical structure

Mercaptopurine (also called 6-MP or by its brand name Purinethol®) is an immunosuppressive drug used to treat leukemia. It is also used for pediatric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, polycythemia vera, and psoriatic arthritis. It may also be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis). Image File history File links Mercaptopurine, chemical structure File links The following pages link to this file: Mercaptopurine ... Image File history File links Mercaptopurine, chemical structure File links The following pages link to this file: Mercaptopurine ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Leukemia (leukaemia in Commonwealth English) is a group of blood diseases characterized by malignancies (cancer) of the blood-forming tissues. ... Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a type of cancer. ... Polycythemia is a condition in which there is a net increase in the total circulating erythrocyte (red blood cell) mass of the body. ... Psoriatic arthritis is a type of inflammatory arthritis that affects around 20% of people suffering from the chronic skin condition Psoriasis. ... In medicine, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the large intestine and, in some cases, the small intestine. ... Diagram of the Human Intestine Crohns disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract and it can involve any part of it - from the mouth to the anus. ...

Side-effects

Some of the side effects of taking Mercaptopurine might include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach/abdominal pain, weakness, skin rash, darkening of the skin, or hair loss. Serious side effects include mouth sores, fever, sore throat, easy bruising or bleeding, pinpoint red spots on the skin, yellowing of eyes or skin, dark urine, painful or difficult urination. Unlikely but serious side effects include: black or tarry stools (melena), bloody stools, and bloody urine. In medicine, melaena or melena is the passage of black tarry motions per rectum. ...

Symptoms of allergic reaction to Mercaptopurine include rash, itching, swelling, dizziness, trouble breathing.

Precautions

Mercaptopurine can lower the body's ability to fight off infection. Those taking mercaptopurine should get permission from a doctor in order to receive immunizations and vaccinations. It is also recommended that while on the drug one should avoid those who have recently received oral polio vaccine. This drug is not recommended during pregnancy. Immunization (AmE) or Immunisation (BE) has a number of meanings: In medicine immunization is the process by which an individual is exposed to a material that is designed to prime his or her immune system against that material. ... Vaccination is a term coined by Edward Jenner for the process of administering live, albeit weakened, microbes to patients, with the intent of conferring immunity against a targeted form of a related disease agent. ... Poliomyelitis (polio), or infantile paralysis, is a viral paralytic disease. ...

See also

• azathioprine