Drugs Five Years Later: Rifampin

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Abstract
In 1971, rifampin was approved for treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis and asymptomatic carriers of Neisseria meningitidis. At present, the approved indications remain the same, but rifampin in conjunction with at least 1 other antituberculous drug may be of great value in therapy of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and infections due to other susceptible mycobacteria. Results of clinical trials in leprosy have been highly encouraging. Rifampin appears to induce light chain proteinuria in a majority of patients and was implicated in suppression of both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, but these effects appear to have been of little consequence to treated patients. A variety of possibly immunologically mediated reactions to rifampin was closely associated with irregular administration of the drug. These reactions and hepatic toxicity may be preventable in many patients. Rifampin or 1 of its congeners, alone or in combination with other antibiotics, may prove useful in treatment of various infectious, and possibly malignant, diseases.
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