Update on rifampin, rifabutin, and rifapentine drug interactions.

Background: Rifampin is a potent inducer of both cytochrome P-450 oxidative enzymes and the P-glycoprotein transport system. Among numerous well documented, clinically significant interactions, examples include warfarin, oral contraceptives, itraconazole, digoxin, verapamil, simvastatin, and human immunodeficiency virus-related protease inhibitors. Rifabutin reduces serum concentrations of antiretroviral agents, but less so than rifampin.

Preventing emergency department visits and hospitalizations for asthma by use of oral corticosteroids at home: are we adhering to national guidelines?

Background: Oral corticosteroids (OCS) in the home management of asthma exacerbations have been recommended in the NIH/NHLBI guidelines since 1991. As a routine component of written action plans, OCS treatment at home is associated with reduced emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations as well as decreased mortality.

Methods: A literature search of English language journals from 1991 to 2009 was performed using several databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, and SCOPUS.

Update on rifampin and rifabutin drug interactions.

Rifampin is a potent inducer of cytochrome P-450 oxidative enzymes as well as the P-glycoprotein transport system. Several examples of well-documented clinically significant interactions include warfarin, oral contraceptives, cyclosporine, itraconazole, digoxin, verapamil, nifedipine, simvastatin, midazolam, and human immunodeficiency virus-related protease inhibitors. Rifabutin reduces serum concentrations of antiretroviral agents, but less so than rifampin.

Reducing emergency department visits and hospitalizations in African American and Hispanic patients with asthma: a 15-year review.

Minority populations in the United States continue to experience a disproportionate share of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations due to asthma. This review examines programs that have attempted to reduce these acute care visits in African American and Hispanic patients. We performed a PubMed search of the English literature for studies published from March 1990 to March 2005, aimed at reducing ED visits and hospitalizations in patients with asthma.

Isoniazid hepatotoxicity associated with treatment of latent tuberculosis infection: a 7-year evaluation from a public health tuberculosis clinic.

Objectives: To determine the overall incidence of isoniazid (INH) hepatotoxicity in a public health tuberculosis clinic over a 7-year period, and to determine if systematic, limited aspartate aminotransferase (AST) monitoring would be of benefit in detecting INH hepatotoxicity.

Methods: Evaluation of INH hepatotoxicity in adults aged > or = 25 years from a database maintained from fall 1996 to 2003 in a public health department clinic. Hepatotoxicity was defined as AST levels more than five times the upper limit of normal (ULN).

Rifampin and rifabutin drug interactions: an update.

Rifampin is a potent inducer of cytochrome P-450 oxidative enzymes. A few examples of well-documented clinically significant interactions include interactions with warfarin, oral contraceptives, cyclosporine, glucocorticoids, ketoconazole or itraconazole, theophylline, quinidine sulfate, digitoxin or digoxin, verapamil hydrochloride, human immunodeficiency virus-related protease inhibitors, zidovudine, delavirdine mesylate, nifedipine, and midazolam. Recent reports have demonstrated clinically relevant interactions with numerous other drugs, such as buspirone hydrochloride, zolpidem tartrate, simvastatin, propafenone hydrochloride, tacrolimus, ondansetron hydrochloride, and opiates.