Methotrexate 25 mg/mL Injection, Solution — NDC 0703-3671-01 (Billing 00703-3671-01)

Glossary — plain-language definitions of medical terms used in this label:

contraindicated: Should not be used in that situation, because the risk is considered too high.

abdominal pain: Pain, cramping, or discomfort felt anywhere in the belly area.

accumulation: A buildup of a medicine in the body when new doses are taken before earlier ones are fully removed.

adverse reaction: An unwanted or harmful effect that a medicine causes in the body.

Adverse Reactions: Unwanted or harmful effects that people experienced while taking a medicine, listed on its official label.

alopecia: Loss of hair from the scalp or body.

anaphylaxis: A sudden, severe, whole-body allergic reaction that can cause trouble breathing, swelling, and a drop in blood pressure, needing emergency care.

anemia: A low level of red blood cells or the oxygen-carrying protein inside them, which can cause tiredness, weakness, and paleness.

anorexia: Loss of appetite, or not feeling hungry (on a drug label this means reduced appetite, not the eating disorder).

aplastic anemia: A serious condition where the bone marrow stops making enough new blood cells.

autoimmune: Describes a condition in which the body's defense system mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells or tissues.

baseline: A person's starting condition, measured before treatment begins, used to see how much they change later on.

Bioavailability: The share of a dose that actually reaches the bloodstream and is able to have an effect.

Boxed Warning: The strongest safety warning the FDA can require, set inside a bold black border because the risk it describes can be very serious.

bradycardia: A slower-than-normal heart rate, usually under 60 beats per minute.

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility: A label section reporting whether lab or animal studies found effects on cancer risk, genes, or the ability to have children.

clearance: How quickly the body removes a medicine from the blood, usually through the liver and kidneys.

Clinical Pharmacology: The label section explaining how a medicine works in the body and how the body processes it.

Clinical Studies: The label section summarizing the research trials used to show that a medicine works and is acceptably safe.

CNS depression: A slowing of brain and nervous-system activity that can cause drowsiness, slowed breathing, or reduced alertness.

confidence interval: A range of numbers that likely contains the true result, showing how sure researchers can be about a study's finding.

constipation: Having bowel movements less often than usual, or passing stools that are hard, dry, and difficult to move.

contraception: Methods used to prevent pregnancy, such as birth control pills, condoms, or an intrauterine device.

Contraindications: A list of situations or health conditions in which a medicine should not be used because the chance of harm is too high.

convulsion: Uncontrolled, rapid shaking of the body caused by muscles rapidly tightening and relaxing, often during a seizure.

cytotoxic: Describing a substance that kills cells, especially fast-growing ones such as cancer cells.

depression: A lasting low mood with loss of interest that affects everyday life.

dermatitis: Inflammation of the skin, causing redness, itching, and sometimes swelling or blisters.

diarrhea: Loose, watery bowel movements that happen more often than normal.

Distribution: How a medicine spreads from the blood into the body's tissues and organs after it is absorbed.

Dosage and Administration: The label section explaining how much of a medicine to use and how to take or give it.

double-blind: A study in which neither the patients nor their doctors know who is getting the real medicine and who is getting the dummy.

Drug Interactions: The label section listing other medicines, foods, or substances that can change how a medicine works or raise the chance of side effects.

dyspnea: The medical word for shortness of breath, or the feeling that you cannot get enough air.

dysuria: Pain, burning, or discomfort when passing urine.

Elimination: The overall removal of a medicine from the body by breaking it down and passing it out.

embryo-fetal toxicity: Harm to a developing baby in the womb, such as birth defects, slowed growth, or loss of the pregnancy.

encephalopathy: Any condition that affects how the brain works, causing confusion, memory problems, or changes in alertness.

enterohepatic recirculation: A cycle where a medicine passes into the gut with bile, then is reabsorbed back into the blood.

epistaxis: A nosebleed.

estimated background risk: The normal chance that any pregnancy will have a birth defect or problem, even without taking any medicine.

Excretion: How the body removes a medicine or its leftover pieces, mainly through the urine or stool.

fertility: The natural ability to become pregnant or to father a child.

Full Prescribing Information: The complete, detailed label for a prescription medicine that follows the summary highlights.

gastrointestinal bleeding: Bleeding anywhere along the digestive tract, from the food pipe down to the bowel.

Half-life: The time it takes for the amount of medicine in the blood to drop by half.

hematemesis: Vomiting blood, which may look bright red or like dark coffee grounds.

hematocrit: A blood test showing what share of your blood is made up of red blood cells.

hemodialysis: A treatment that uses a machine to filter waste and extra fluid from the blood when the kidneys cannot.

hemorrhage: Bleeding, especially heavy or uncontrolled bleeding, either inside the body or from an outside wound.

hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver, which can be caused by infections, alcohol, or certain medicines.

hepatotoxicity: Damage to the liver caused by a medicine or other substance.

herpes zoster: The medical name for shingles, a painful rash caused by reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox.

How Supplied/Storage and Handling: The label section describing the forms and strengths a medicine comes in and how to store it properly.

hypersensitivity: An overreaction of the body's defense system to a substance, causing symptoms such as rash, swelling, or trouble breathing.

hypotension: Blood pressure that is lower than normal, which can cause dizziness or fainting.

incidence: How often a new event, such as a side effect, happens in a group of people over a set period of time.

Indications and Usage: The label section stating which medical conditions the FDA has officially approved the medicine to treat, prevent, or manage.

inhibitor: A substance that blocks an enzyme or transporter, which can raise the levels of drugs it normally handles.

intramuscular: An injection given deep into a muscle; often written as IM.

intrathecal: Injected into the fluid that surrounds the spinal cord.

intrauterine growth restriction: When a baby grows more slowly than expected in the womb and is smaller than normal at birth.

intravenous: Given directly into a vein through a needle or thin tube; often written as IV.

lactation: The making and release of milk from a mother's breasts after giving birth.

leukopenia: A low level of white blood cells, the cells that help the body fight off infections.

liver function tests: Blood tests that check how well the liver is working and whether it is irritated or damaged.

malaise: A general feeling of being unwell, uneasy, or low on energy, without one clear symptom.

Mechanism of Action: How a medicine produces its effect in the body, described at the level of cells or body chemistry.

melena: Black, sticky, tar-like stools caused by blood that has been digested higher up in the gut.

metabolic acidosis: A condition where too much acid builds up in the body's blood and fluids.

Metabolism: How the body chemically changes a medicine, usually in the liver, into other substances.

mucositis: Painful swelling and sores in the moist lining of the mouth, throat, or digestive tract.

myelosuppression: A slowing of the bone marrow's job of making blood cells, which can lower red cells, white cells, or platelets.

NDC: A unique number that identifies a specific medicine, its maker, strength, and package size.

neonatal: Relating to a newborn baby during its first four weeks of life.

Nonclinical Toxicology: The label section summarizing safety findings from laboratory and animal studies, rather than from studies in people.

Overdosage: The label section describing what can happen if too much of a medicine is taken and how it may be treated.

pancytopenia: A low level of all three main blood cell types at once: red cells, white cells, and platelets.

parenteral: Given by injection or drip into the body rather than swallowed by mouth.

Patient Counseling Information: The label section telling health professionals what to explain to patients about using a medicine safely.

Pharmacokinetics: The study of how the body takes in a medicine, spreads it around, breaks it down, and removes it over time.

photosensitivity: An unusually strong skin reaction, such as burning or rash, after being in sunlight or other ultraviolet light.

placebo: An inactive treatment with no real medicine in it, such as a sugar pill, used for comparison in a study.

plasma concentration: The amount of medicine measured in the liquid part of the blood at a given time.

pneumonitis: Inflammation of the lung tissue that is not caused by an infection and can lead to cough and breathlessness.

Prescribing Information: The official, detailed document approved by the FDA that tells health professionals how to use a prescription medicine.

prophylaxis: Treatment given to prevent an infection or illness before it starts, rather than to treat one that is already present.

pruritus: Itching of the skin.

reactivation: When a germ that has been quiet in the body for a long time becomes active again and causes an infection.

renal excretion: Removal of a medicine from the body through the kidneys into the urine.

renal impairment: Reduced kidney function, meaning the kidneys do not filter waste and fluid from the blood as well as normal.

reproductive potential: The ability to have children, meaning a person who could become pregnant or could father a child.

Rx only: A label marking meaning the medicine can be obtained only with a prescription from a licensed health professional.

seizure: A sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause shaking, staring, confusion, or loss of awareness.

sepsis: A serious, body-wide reaction to an infection in which the body's own response can start to injure its tissues and organs.

serum creatinine: A waste product measured in a blood test; higher levels can mean the kidneys are not filtering as well as normal.

single-dose vial: A small container holding one dose of medicine, meant to be used once and then thrown away.

spontaneous abortion: The natural loss of a pregnancy in its early stages, also called a miscarriage.

stomatitis: Soreness, swelling, or sores on the lining inside the mouth.

subcutaneous: An injection placed into the fatty layer just under the skin; often written as subcut or SC.

substrate: A drug or other substance that a particular enzyme or transporter acts on.

TB: A serious infection, usually of the lungs, caused by tuberculosis bacteria and spread through the air.

terminal half-life: The time it takes blood levels to fall by half during the final, slowest stage of removal.

thrombocytopenia: A low level of platelets, the blood cells that help form clots, which can lead to easier bruising or bleeding.

tinnitus: Ringing, buzzing, or other noise in the ears that is not coming from an outside sound.

trimester: One of the three roughly three-month stages that a pregnancy is divided into.

tuberculosis: A serious infection, usually of the lungs, caused by tuberculosis bacteria and spread through the air.

tumor lysis syndrome: A serious condition where many cancer cells break apart quickly, releasing their contents and upsetting the body's balance of salts and waste products.

ulceration: The forming of an open sore on the skin or on a lining inside the body, such as the stomach.

Use in Specific Populations: The label section describing how a medicine affects particular groups, such as pregnant people, children, or older adults.

volume of distribution: A calculated value showing how widely a medicine spreads into body tissues versus staying in the blood.

Warnings and Precautions: The label section describing serious risks to know about and safety steps to follow while using a medicine.

wheezing: A high-pitched whistling sound made while breathing, usually when the airways are narrowed.