Abstract: As a widely used immunosuppressant, azathioprine (AZA) plays an important role in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases. AZA can interfere with nucleotide utilization and affect cell differentiation by producing purine analogues. The common adverse reactions of AZA include hematological toxicity, hepatotoxicity, gastrointestinal reaction and infection et al. We review the pharmacokinetics and metabolism, dermatology application, adverse reactions and prophylactic measures of AZA in this paper.

Key words: azathioprine, dermatology, application, adverse reaction