Rifampicin is a commonly used first-line antitubercular drug well known for its safety and efficacy and is generally well tolerated. Flu-like syndrome is the main cause of fever in rifampicin treated patients. High grade fever without accompanying features of hypersensitivity or flu is an extremely rare occurance. Our patient presented with pyrexia of unknown origin and diagnostic work-up revea...

Rifampicin is a potent inducer of hepatic microsomal enzymes and increases the oxidation of cortisol to 63-hydroxycortisol.2 As the major pathway of cortisol metabolism involving tetrahydroreduction of the A ring is not thought to be altered this increased utilisation usually represents only a small percentage of the cortisol produced in patients with normal adrenal function. In patients with p...

A reliable and practical CYP3A induction assay with cryopreserved human hepatocytes in a 96-well format was developed. Various 96-well plates with different basement membrane were evaluated using prototypical inducers, rifampicin, phenytoin, and carbamazepine. Thin-layer (TL) Matrigel was found to yield the highest basal and induced levels of CYP3A activity as determined by testosterone 6 -hydr...

Oral therapy of staphylococcal infection of orthopaedic implants with 900 mg/day rifampicin combined with either 1.5 g/day fusidic acid for 5 days followed by 1 g/day thereafter, or 600 mg/day ofloxacin was compared. Patients with an infected hip were treated for 6 months, with removal of any unstable prosthesis after 5 months' treatment and those with an infected knee prosthesis were treated f...

A reliable and practical CYP3A induction assay with cryopreserved human hepatocytes in a 96-well format was developed. Various 96-well plates with different basement membrane were evaluated using prototypical inducers, rifampicin, phenytoin, and carbamazepine. Thin-layer (TL) Matrigel was found to yield the highest basal and induced levels of CYP3A activity as determined by testosterone 6β-hydr...

Polypropylene mesh implants are routinely used to repair abdominal wall defects or incisional hernia. However, complications associated with mesh implantation, such as mesh-related infections, can cause serious problems and may require complete surgical removal. Hence, the aim of the present study was the development of a safe and efficient coating to reduce postoperative mesh infections. Biode...

BACKGROUND Among the various forms of TB, tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe, with about 30% mortality and 50% of survivors left with neurological sequelae. Children suffer more frequently from TBM than adults and outcomes are often poor due to difficulties in making the diagnosis and uncertainty regarding the best anti-tuberculosis drug regimen. The aim of this prospective study w...

Combination therapy with anti-HIV drugs and opportunistic infection drugs is a common practice in treatment of AIDS patients. Although toxic effects of most individual therapies are known, the toxic potential of most combination therapies has not been established. To understand the toxic consequences of combination therapies, the commonly used anti-HIV drug 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) and ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Frequency of resistance-conferring mutations vary among isoniazid- and ethambutol-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained from patients of various ethnic groups. This study was aimed to determine the occurrence of specific rpoB mutations in rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates from tuberculosis patients of various ethnic groups in Kuwait. METHOD...

BACKGROUND Isoniazid and rifampicin are the two most efficacious first-line agents for tuberculosis (TB) treatment. We assessed the prevalence of isoniazid and rifampicin mono-resistance, associated risk factors, and the association of mono-resistance on treatment outcomes. METHODS A prospective, observational cohort study enrolled adults with a first episode of smear-positive pulmonary TB fr...