Pharmacokinetic Studies of Rifampicin in Healthy Volunteers and Tuberculosis Patients

This article describes the population pharmacokinetics of rifampicin in Pakistani pulmonary tuberculosis patients and healthy volunteers, to determine the variability in the pharmacokinetics of rifampicin (RMP). Subjects ingested single doses of RMP, 450 mg, under fasting conditions. Thirteen healthy and thirteen patient volunteers were selected for the studies. The typical population estimate of oral clearance was 8.7 and 11.9 L/h in patient and healthy volunteers, while the volume of distribution was estimated to be 39 and 54.14 L in tuberculosis patients and healthy volunteers, respectively. The changes in Cmax and Auc are non-significantly different in both healthy volunteers and tuberculosis patients, while significant variability was observed for the Tmax, which is higher in healthy volunteers compared to the tuberculosis patients. © 2010 Friends Science Publishers