Mesna, sold under the brand name Mesnex among others, is a medication used in those taking cyclophosphamide or ifosfamide to decrease the risk of bleeding from the bladder. It is used either by mouth or injection into a vein.Common side effects include headache, vomiting, sleepiness, loss of appetite, cough, rash, and joint pain. Serious side effects include allergic reactions. Use during pregnancy appears to be safe for the baby but this use has not been well studied. Mesna is an organosulfur compound. It works by altering the breakdown products of cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide found in the urine making them less toxic.Mesna was approved for medical use in the United States in 1988. It is on the World Health Organizations List of Essential Medicines. Medical uses
Chemotherapy adjuvant
Mesna is used therapeutically to reduce the incidence of haemorrhagic cystitis and haematuria when a patient receives ifosfamide or cyclophosphamide for cancer chemotherapy. These two anticancer agents, in vivo, may be converted to urotoxic metabolites, such as acrolein. Mesna assists to detoxify these metabolites by reaction of its sulfhydryl group with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl containing compounds such as acrolein. This reaction is known as a Michael addition. Mesna also increases urinary excretion of cysteine. Other
Outside North America, mesna is also used as a mucolytic agent, working in the same way as acetylcysteine; it is sold for this indication as Mistabron and Mistabronco. Administration
It is administered intravenously or orally (through the mouth). The IV mesna infusions would be given with IV ifosfamide, while oral mesna would be given with oral cyclophosphamide.
Other symptoms associated with infection from this neurotoxin include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. Botulism prevents muscle contraction by blocking the release of acetylcholine, thereby halting postsynaptic activity of the neuromuscular junction. If its effects reach the respiratory muscles, then it can lead to respiratory failure, leading to death. Curare
Curare is a plant poison derived from – among other species – Chondrodendron tomentosum and various species belonging to the genus Strychnos, which are native to the rainforests of South America. Certain peoples indigenous to the region – notably the Macushi – crush and cook the roots and stems of these and certain other plants and then mix the resulting decoction with various other plant poisons and animal venoms to create a syrupy liquid in which to dip their arrow heads and the tips of their blowgun darts. Curare has also been used medicinally by South Americans to treat madness, dropsy, edema, fever, kidney stones, and bruises. Curare acts as a neuromuscular blocking agent that induces flaccid paralysis. This poison binds to the acetylcholine (ACh) receptors on the muscle, blocking them from binding to ACh. As a result, ACh accumulates within the neuromuscular junction, but since ACh cannot bind to the receptors on the muscle, the muscle cannot be stimulated. This poison must enter the bloodstream for it to work. If curare affects the respiratory muscles, then its effects can become life-threatening, placing the victim at risk for suffocation.