What is Azathioprine (AZA)?

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What is Azathioprine (AZA)?​

Azathioprine (AZA), sold under the brand name Imuran among others, is an immunosuppressive medication.

Does azathioprine cause birth defects?​

Azathioprine can cause birth defects. A 2003 population-based study in Denmark showed that the use of azathioprine and related mercaptopurine resulted in a seven-fold incidence of fetal abnormalities as well as a 20-fold increase in miscarriage.
Does azathioprine interfere with vitamin B3?
Azathioprine decreases the effects of the anticoagulant warfarin and of non-depolarizing muscle relaxants, but increases the effect of depolarizing muscle relaxants. It can also interfere with niacin (vitamin B3), resulting in at least one case to pellagra and fatal medullary aplasia.

What is azathioprine used for in lupus?​

Azathioprine is sometimes used in systemic lupus erythematosus patients who require a maintenance dose of 15 mg or higher of prednisone and those who experience recurrent flares. It is used as an add on therapy when steroid therapy is given by mouth for pemphigus and myasthenia gravis, as a “steroid-sparing” agent.

Can azathioprine be used to treat IBD?​

In general azathioprine is not one of the first medications used by IBD patients when they are first diagnosed. It has been used by people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis since the 1960s and is thought to be prescribed to around 1 in 5 patients with IBD. What is azathioprine?
What are the signs and symptoms of azathioprine toxicity?
These symptoms may also be accompanied by diarrhea, rash, fever, malaise, myalgias, elevations in liver enzymes, and occasionally, hypotension. Symptoms of gastrointestinal toxicity most often develop within the first several weeks of therapy with Azathioprine tablets and are reversible upon discontinuation of the drug.
Patients on Azathioprine tablets should have complete blood counts, including platelet counts, weekly during the first month, twice monthly for the second and third months of treatment, then monthly or more frequently if dosage alterations or other therapy changes are necessary.