This blog will be discussing monoclonal antibodies, these are drugs that have only one specific purpose for one specific disease. What this means is that they are programmed to specifically find and disable or “take care of” one type of antibody in our system by finding the receptor (most commonly) that keeps the disease alive inside you. This is very simple to understand, so I enjoyed this heheh 🙂 When receptors are blocked, such as in cancer cells when their receptors are blocked that allow cells to reproduce and multiply like crazy, they cant multiply which halts the cancer process. I will be exploring what all monoclonal antibodies have the capability to do in this blog by focusing primarily on “denosumab” through the Prolia drug that is commonly used to treat Osteoporosis in women following menopause where other drugs are not working. Through this I will learn alot about monoclonal antibodies, and specifically how they act in the Prolia drug.
There are lots of side effects and results that come from monoclonal antibodies in general. The FDA provides a pretty extensive list of these that include but are not limited to fever, weakness, dizziness, and fatigue. I was not surprised when learning that there are lots of side effects that can come from any monoclonal antibody due to the power it holds. Specifically for Prolia, the side effects they advertise are series allergic reactions, muscle spasms and pains, increased bone fracture, common cold symptoms, lung infection, and skin rash. I learned that the side effects can differ between genders based on where the drug works. Lung infection was not listed by the main FDA, so this is specifically for Prolia and through me off a little. The complete list of side effects for a general monoclonal antibody are:
- Shortness of breath
- Peripheral edema
- Headache
- Fever
- Muscle aches and pain
- Decreased appetite
- Increased triglyceride levels
- Insomnia
- Abdominal pain
- Back pain
- Dizziness
But then… I kept reading and found out there are some symptoms that are recognized as more serious, or fatal depending on the individual. These were:
- Interstitial lung disease
- Hepatitis
- Generation of antibodies
- Enterocolitis
- Gastrointestinal perforation
- Mucositis
- Stomatitis
- Anemia
- Reduced white blood cell counts
- Hypothyroidism
- Low blood pressure
- Anaphylaxis
- Serious infections
- Cancer
- Serum sickness
- Autoimmune thyroiditis
- Arterial and venous blood clots
- Congestive heart failure
- Bleeding
Lung Disease was listed here. I found Hepatitis as a very weird side effect and I would be very interested to know which monoclonal specifically this side effect comes from. However, something kind of similar to this with the Prolia drug as I read was the screening that takes place prior to being prescribed the drug that indicated there are some who are not able to take this medication due to their prior disease history or medical history. But first lets explore all monoclonal antibodies in general, when these antibodies are combined with either other drugs or medications the patient is on for whatever reason or disease this is where the more severe side effects come into play. They could alter the rate of absorption of the drug as well as others you are currently taking. This sounds the most concerning to me and makes sense for why the screening for Prolia was so intense. Going as far as asking you blood calcium levels and requiring them to not take or have taken a considerable amount of in your recent past. If you have ever been in kidney dialysis or had previous kidney problems, or they go as far to say if it is likely in your family, you should not be prescribed the drug. What this sounds like to me after seeing the severe symptoms is that they do not want the bad to outweigh the good. Another fact I came across was that your healthcare provider must give you a pregnancy test prior to prescribing you the drug. They also highly recommend that you not try and become pregnant for almost half a year of using the drug, but birth control is fine to be on alongside the drug. One drug that is NOT okay to be taking alongside Prolia is XGEVA. XGEVA is another form of a denosumab that fights bone tumors.
The job of a denosumab is to block the specific protein RANK ligand. This is a ligand that will appear usually in post menopausal naturally. With this protein being blocked and therefor5e unable to function, this limits the osteoclasts ( the specific cells that cause Osteoporosis ) from destroying the bone marrow which increases bone mass and strength. Because it is targeting the cells that are natural, this is affecting the innate immune system. Finally, you cannot take this drug if you have active TB, or any other chronic disease.
MicroBio 