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Drug Interactions With Belatacept
If you are receiving belatacept to prevent rejection of your transplanted kidney, you may not be able to use products such as echinacea, live vaccinations, or monoclonal antibodies. Combining these and certain other substances with belatacept could cause negative drug interactions, which could increase your risk for potentially serious side effects or decrease the effectiveness of the medicines.
An Overview of Belatacept Interactions
Belatacept (NULOJIX®) may react with a number of other medications. Some of the drugs that can lead to interactions with belatacept include but are not limited to:- Echinacea
- Leflunomide (Arava®)
- "Live" vaccinations, such as:
- Chickenpox vaccine (varicella vaccine)
- FluMist® (the nasal vaccine for influenza; the injected vaccine is not live)
- MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella vaccine)
- Polio vaccine
- Rotavirus vaccine
- Smallpox vaccine
- Yellow fever vaccine
- BCG vaccine (used in some countries for tuberculosis)
- Monoclonal antibodies, such as:
- Belimumab (Benlysta®)
- Denosumab (Prolia®)
- Natalizumab (Tysabri®)
- Trastuzumab (Herceptin®)
- Mycophenolate (CellCept®, Gengraf®)
- Pimecrolimus (Elidel®)
- Sipuleucel-T (PROVENGE®)
- Tacrolimus ointment (Protopic®).
Written by/reviewed by: Susan Lakey, PharmD, MPH, BCPP
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD