IPLEDGE program
Although the goal of the program is to prevent pregnancies of women who take the drug, male patients must also participate in anti-pregnancy restrictions, primarily due to fears that male isotretinoin users might share their prescriptions with females without their physicians' knowledge. There has been no link to birth defects from Accutane associated with males using the drug, though male sexual dysfunction has been suggested by one study. As this has not been conclusively proven, this is not acknowledged as a side effect in the official literature accompanying the medication.
Azathioprine
Azathioprine (AZA), sold under the brand name Imuran among others, is an immunosuppressive medication. It is used in rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and in kidney transplants to prevent rejection. It is taken by mouth or injected into a vein.
Common side effects include bone marrow suppression and vomiting. Bone marrow suppression is especially common in people with a genetic deficiency of the enzyme thiopurine S-methyltransferase. Other serious risk factors include an increased risk of lymphoma. Use during pregnancy may result in harm to the baby. Azathioprine is in the purine analogue and antimetabolite family of medication. It works via 6-thioguanine to disrupt the making of RNA and DNA by cells.
Azathioprine was first made in 1957. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$7.63–17.19 a month. The wholesale cost in the United States is about US$35.34 per month.
Azathioprine is used alone or in combination with other immunosuppressive therapy to prevent rejection following organ transplantation, and to treat an array of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, pemphigus, systemic lupus erythematosus, Behçet's disease, and other forms of vasculitis, autoimmune hepatitis, atopic dermatitis, myasthenia gravis, neuromyelitis optica (Devic's disease), restrictive lung disease, and others. It is also an important therapy and steroid-sparing agent for inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and for multiple sclerosis.