Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressant drug primarily used in the prevention of transplant rejection there’s a lot you need to know about cyclosporine so i’ll share my visual mnemonic to help you remember all the information needed for testing oh man so i’ve just finished the first leg of the cyclist port the famous french bike race take a look at that giant banner
That reads cycle sport by the way this cycle sport race is our symbol for cyclosporine an important drug you need to remember on test day cycle sport for cyclosporine now look at this cane in my hands since these cycle sport races are so long and intense my legs were super shot after racing to the point where i needed a cane to help me walk well a cane also
Happens to be pixarized as recurring symbol for immunosuppression since immunosuppression refers to a weakened immune system and a cane is used when someone is too weak to walk right cyclosporine causes immunosuppression the immune suppression caused by cyclosporine is useful in many contexts but you’ll really only see two ever in medical school first and most
Importantly cyclosporine can help prevent or slow down the course of transplant rejection second cyclosporine can treat autoimmune diseases like the vasculitis where most of the damage is mediated by autoimmunity this is pretty self-explanatory so i won’t waste too much time here let’s move on alright now check out all these team aids helping me race at the
Cycle sport since the cycle race happens in france it makes sense that these aids are french and just as you’d expect from french people these aids are fashionable wearing these snazzy cowl necks by the way the cowl neck coincidentally helps me remember calcium neuron because cow neck sounds like calcium next notice how one of these cowl-necked frenchmen is
Trying to shave my legs to make me more aerodynamic or something of course i’m angrily telling him to leave my leg hair is my manly pride after all this waving off or dismissal of a cow neck wearing side represents inhibition of calcineurin get it because i’m blocking the cowl neck guy from doing what he wants to do calcineurin is an enzyme important for il2
Production in t cells and cyclosporine works by inhibiting calcineurin to achieve this cyclosporine actually binds to a molecule called cyclophyllin to form a complex it is this complex that then goes on to inhibit calcineurin however cyclophilin is pretty low yield and also starts with the word stem cyclo so we didn’t really think it needed its own symbol just
Remember cyclosporine and calcineurin let’s see what happens as a result of calcineurin inhibition take a look at my shoes over there my feet were blistering after the race so i took off my shoes and dropped them in the corner do you see how these shoes are tied together you might even say that they are a pair of interlocking shoes well these dropped pair of
Interlocking shoes are our symbol for fallen interleukin 2 since interlocking objects are our symbol for the interleukins while shoe rhymes with the number 2. it’s the interleukin-2 interlocking shoes cyclosporin use leads to a fall in il2 levels recall from our il-2 video that il-2 is needed for the growth and differentiation of t-cells il-2 production is
Dependent on calcineurin and we know that cyclosporine inhibits calcine therefore by inhibiting calcinurin cyclosporin indirectly blocks il2 production ultimately this stops t-cell growth and stimulation limiting the adaptive immune response this is helpful when we are trying to down regulate the immune response which is exactly what immunosuppressants are for
Now let’s talk about a host of side effects seen with cyclosporine use that you should remember for test day take a look at the water pouch i dropped over there cyclists always need to be well hydrated for races right while this particular water pouch is kidney shaped to represent the kidney since the pouch has been dropped and it even looks like it’s spilling this
Picture reminds me of nephrotoxicity one of the main adverse side effects of cyclosporine cyclosporine causes interstitial nephritis which is inflammation of the spaces in between the tubules in the kidneys although you don’t really need to worry about the exact mechanism just understand that cyclosporine impairs the function of the kidney therefore you should
Expect a bump in creatinine or bun in patients taking cyclosporine all right now check out the stick of butter in my hand yeah i i know it’s a bit gross but i’m biting right into the stick of butter the high fat and butter provides lots of energy for cycling well high fat coincidentally helps me remember the hyperlipidemia or increased blood lipid levels seen
With cyclosporine use just remember this high fat butter stick to remember hyperlipidemia is an adverse side effect of cyclosporine afterward notice the bubblegum in my mouth to get rid of the taste of eating straight butter i also chew on gum this bubble gum is actually our symbol for gingival hyperplasia since gingiva is just a fancy term for your gums and
I’m blowing this bubble which reminds me of gum tissue overgrowth which is what gingival hyperplasia really means gingival hyperplasia is one of those weird side effects that test writers tend to like so you should definitely remember it for test day okay it looks like we’ve come full circle back to my legs if you’ve ever biked or swam you know that shaving
Your legs helps improve your speed but gosh i really don’t want to remove this beautiful leg hair by the way the hairy legs also happens to be our symbol for hirsutism which is just a fancy term for excessive hair growth as another weird side effect hirsutism is another that you should definitely know for test day okay now check out my blistered big toes my
Shoes were actually too tight and caused these painful swollen big toes the swollen big toes also remind me of podiagra in gout you see gout is another potential adverse effect of cyclosporine cyclosporine use can increase uric acid levels and when this uric acid crystallizes in the joints it produces gout next let’s turn to my mechanic over here pumping the
Tires if you’ve ever biked before you’d know that fully pressurized tires help you ride faster as such my mechanic is really straining putting my tires under extremely high pressure while this high pressure actually reminds me of hypertension since hypertension just refers to high blood pressure hypertension is yet another adverse side effect of cyclosporine
While the mechanism is unclear it is thought to involve systemic and renal vasoconstriction induced by cyclosporine i wouldn’t focus too much on the mechanism just remember that hypertension can be seen with cyclosporine use okay lastly let’s take a look at the broken ribbon at the finish line wait this actually isn’t a ribbon it’s a wire that i snapped earlier
Maybe they use a wire instead of a ribbon to electronically record who finished the race first in any case this wire is frayed which nicely serves as our symbol for neurotoxicity you know a frayed wire for neurotoxicity nerves conduct electrical impulses kind of like wires right neurologic symptoms in patients taking cyclosporine usually manifest as peripheral
Neuropathy although cns symptoms like ataxia and encephalopathy can also be seen for test day just picture this frayed wire to remember that cyclosporine can potentially cause neurotoxicity okay so that’s it for cyclosporine let’s recap quickly so i can get back to training cyclosporine is an immunosuppressant drug that’s used to prevent transplant rejection
And also to treat autoimmune diseases it suppresses the immune system by inhibiting calcineurin an enzyme necessary for il-2 production by inhibiting calcinurin cyclosporine leads to a fall in il2 levels which impairs t cell growth and activation this results in an overall suppression of the immune response however cyclosporine does come with many adverse
Effects of which the most important to remember are nephrotoxicity gout or hyperuricemia gingival hyperplasia and hirsutism less important side effects to remember are hyperlipidemia neurotoxicity and hypertension and that’s it for this cycle race my legs could really use a break i’ll catch you in the next race
Transcribed from video
@MEDICALUSMLEVIDEOS 1 Cyclosporine By Med Nerd