BACKGROUND The optimal treatment for latent multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis infection remains unclear. In anticipation of future clinical trials, we modeled the expected performance of six potential regimens for treatment of latent multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis. METHODS A computerized Markov model to analyze the total cost of treatment for six different regimens: Pyrazinamide/etha...

Anti-tuberculosis drugs frequently result in cutaneous adverse reactions, including pruritus, maculopapular exanthems, and urticaria. However, anti-tuberculosis drug-associated cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis (CLV) has been rarely reported. We describe a case of CLV induced by rifampin and pyrazinamide. A 38-year-old male had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis two months ago and t...

Serial concentrations of pyrazinamide in 3 volunteers showed that increasing the dose from 22 mg/kg of body-weight to 66 mg/kg resulted in substantially higher serum concentrations of the drug and a longer period of coverage (at a concentration of 25 mug/ml). Similarly, in a study based on 6 tuberculous patients, increasing the dose of pyrazinamide from 66 mg/kg to 88 mg/kg led to appreciably h...

Objective: To determine primary and acquired resistance to pyrazinamide in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in sputum samples from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive study conducted between April and November of 2011 at a referral hospital for tuberculosis in the city of Recife, Brazil. Cultures, drug sensitivity tests, and tests of pyr...

Sixty-two Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were tested for pyrazinamidase activity, and their pyrazinamide susceptibility was determined by the radiometric method. Sequencing of pncA genes in the 23 resistant strains revealed mutations in 16 pyrazinamidase-negative strains, 11 of which had not been previously described. Six isolates containing wild-type pncA might possess alternative resista...