Hepatotoxicity of Rifampicin and Pyrazinamide Treatment Excluding Isoniazid.

Choi, Ik Su; Park, I Nae; Hong, Sang Bum; Oh, Yeon Mok; Lim, Chae Man; Lee, Sang Do; Koh, Younsuck; Kim, Woo Sung; Kim, Dong Soon; Kim, Won Dong; Shim, Tae Sun

doi:2006.60.1.38

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 60(1); 2006 > Article

Original Article

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2006;60(1):38-43.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2006.60.1.38 Published online January 1, 2006.

Hepatotoxicity of Rifampicin and Pyrazinamide Treatment Excluding Isoniazid.

Ik Su Choi, I Nae Park, Sang Bum Hong, Yeon Mok Oh, Chae Man Lim, Sang Do Lee, Younsuck Koh, Woo Sung Kim, Dong Soon Kim, Won Dong Kim, Tae Sun Shim

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. shimts@amc.seoul.kr

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Even though two-month rifampicin (RMP, R) and pyrazinamide (PZA, P) treatment has some advantages over isoniazid (INH, H) treatment for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), it was withdrawn from the list of treatment regimens for LTBI because of reported cases of severe hepatotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of hepatotoxicity of RMP and PZA treatment excluding INH in a Korean population. METHOD: TIn order to recruit patients who were prescribed RMP and PZA excluding INH, 256 INH-resistant tuberculosis patients were investigated through retrospective medical record analysis. A standard four-drug regimen was changed to a RMP/PZA-containing regimen excluding INH in 64 patients (RZ+ group). In the same study period, 146 patients who were prescribed an INH/RMP/PZA-containing standard regimen were randomly selected as a control (HRZ+ group). Clinical characteristics including liver diseases and the frequency of drug-induced hepatitis were compared between the RZ+ and HRZ+ groups. RESULT: The mean age of patients in the RZ+ group was 50.2 (+/-16.2) and the male-to-female ratio was 36:28. The frequency of underlying liver diseases was 10.9% (7/64), which was not significantly different from that of the HRZ+ group (4.1%, 6/146). Even though the treatment duration of RZ+ (5.5 +/- 4.8 months) was longer that than that of HRZ+ (2.7 +/- 2.3 months), the frequency of toxic hepatitis was not significantly different between RZ+ and HRZ+ groups, 3.5% (2/57) and 7.1% (10/140), respectively. CONCLUSION: Hepatotoxicity was mild and occurred in a minor proportion of patients in a Korean population prescribed an RMP/PZA-containing regimen. A future prospective study including more patients is needed.

Key Words: Tuberculosis, Latenet tuberculosis infection, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamide, Hepatotoxicity