mycophenolic-acid and Mood-Disorders

The Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has mandated has intensified the counseling associated with prescribing mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), because of its teratogenicity. In this brief report, two children are described who were prescribed MMF and within weeks developed psychiatric symptoms, with rapid resolution after discontinuation of the medication and no recurrence over 4 years of follow-up. Mood disorders are a rare but possible side effect that should be mentioned when discussing MMF with patients and families. Prompt discontinuation of the drug should lead to reversal of symptoms when the drug is implicated.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Adolescent; Dermatitis, Atopic; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Facial Dermatoses; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Mood Disorders; Mycophenolic Acid; Recurrence; Risk Assessment; Sampling Studies; Scleroderma, Localized; Severity of Illness Index; United States; United States Food and Drug Administration; Withholding Treatment