Rifampicin in plasma and pleural fluid after single oral doses

摘要

Single oral doses of rifampicin (RMP) were given to 31 patients with pleural effusions of various aetiologies. The concentrations of RMP and its active metabolites in pleural fluid and plasma were determined by an agar diffusion method using paper discs as diffusion centres. The plasma concentrations reached a peak within 3 h and then declined monoexponentially; in pleural fluid, RMP concentration rose slowly to reach a plateau that lasted for several hours. There were marked differences between subjects in the observed concentrations of RMP. During the first 12 h the plasma levels exceeded those in pleural fluid, but after 24 h the concentration of RMP in pleural fluid was higher than in plasma. If multiple oral doses of RMP 10 mg/kg b. w. are given every 24 h, as is common in the treatment of tuberculosis, therapeutic concentrations may be expected in pleural fluid for the major part of each day.