What a total bummer.... so today I started looking around about methotrexate...and found this paper that supports using folinic acid instead of
folic acid to supplement ---
Quote:
Arthritis Rheum. 2004 Oct;50(10):3104-11.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Arthritis Rheum. 2005 Apr;52(4):1338-9; author reply 1339-40.
The effect of folic acid and folinic acid supplements on purine metabolism in methotrexate-treated rheumatoid arthritis.
Morgan SL, Oster RA, Lee JY, Alarcón GS, Baggott JE.
University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-1270, USA. slmorgan@uab.edu
OBJECTIVE: To determine if folinic acid supplementation during methotrexate (MTX) therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) reduces both urinary 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide (AICA) and urinary adenosine excretion more than does folic acid supplementation. AICA and adenosine are markers for MTX interference with purine metabolism. METHODS: Forty patients with RA who received MTX for 6 weeks were randomized to receive either daily folic acid or folinic acid supplements during an additional week of MTX therapy. Colorimetric and radioimmunocompetition assays were used to measure 24-hour urinary AICA and adenosine excretion levels, respectively. RESULTS: At the end of 6 weeks, 24-hour urinary levels of AICA, but not adenosine, were elevated as compared with baseline levels (i.e., prior to MTX therapy). Folinic acid, but not folic acid, supplementation normalized urinary AICA levels during MTX therapy. Relatively high urinary levels of AICA were correlated with reduced disease activity. No similar correlations were seen with urinary adenosine levels. CONCLUSION: The blockade of purine nucleotide biosynthesis by MTX at the AICA ribonucleotide transformylase-catalyzed step may be related to the efficacy of MTX, and this blockade is effectively relieved by folinic acid, but not by folic acid, supplementation. Copyright 2004 American College of Rheumatology
PMID: 15476202 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Methotrexate affects bone growth:
Quote:
J Cell Physiol. 2007 Sep 4; [Epub ahead of print]Click here to read Links
Folinic acid attenuates methotrexate chemotherapy-induced damages on bone growth mechanisms and pools of bone marrow stromal cells.
Xian CJ, Cool JC, Scherer MA, Fan C, Foster BK.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia.
Chemotherapy often induces bone growth defects in pediatric cancer patients; yet the underlying cellular mechanisms remain unclear and currently no preventative treatments are available. Using an acute chemotherapy model in young rats with the commonly used antimetabolite methotrexate (MTX), this study investigated damaging effects of five once-daily MTX injections and potential protective effects of supplementary treatment with antidote folinic acid (FA) on cellular activities in the tibial growth plate, metaphysis, and bone marrow. MTX suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis of chondrocytes, and reduced collagen-II expression and growth plate thickness. It reduced production of primary spongiosa bone, volume of secondary spongiosa bone, and proliferation of metaphyseal osteoblasts, preosteoblasts and bone marrow stromal cells, with the cellular activities being most severely damaged on day 9 and returning to or towards near normal levels by day 14. On the other hand, proliferation of marrow pericytes was increased early after MTX treatment and during repair. FA supplementation significantly suppressed chondrocyte apoptosis, preserved chondrocyte proliferation and expression of collagen-II, and attenuated damaging effects on production of calcified cartilage and primary bone. The supplementation also significantly reduced MTX effects on proliferation of metaphyseal osteoblastic cells and of bone marrow stromal cells, and enhanced pericyte proliferation. These observations suggest that FA supplementation effectively attenuates MTX damage on cellular activities in producing calcified cartilage and primary trabecular bone and on pools of osteoblastic cells and marrow stromal cells, and that it enhances proliferation of mesenchymal progenitor cells during bone/bone marrow recovery. J. Cell. Physiol. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
PMID: 17786974 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Folinic acid is Leucovorin RX
And also I just found this: That caffeine consumption may interfere with methotrexate therapy:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...8902/HTMLSTART
I don't know how much you consume, but raising methotrexate because of non-response could be due to this.
The cost of folinic acid is no longer high...
and also dosing should not be really high with this either since it is more effective than folic.
http://www.iherb.com/Search.aspx?c=1&kw=folinic+acid 800mcg
Rx leucovorin comes in 5 and 10mg
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All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.-- Galileo Galilei
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Weezie looking at petunias 8.25.2017
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