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Drugs and Medicinal Substances

Rifampicin

Antiinfective Agents for Systemic Use

Rifampicin is an ansamycin antibiotic used to treat several types of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium complex, leprosy and Legionnaires' disease. It works by inhibiting bacterial RNA polymerase, decreasing the bacterium's production of RNA and halting its growth. Researchers at Lepetit Pharmaceuticals in Milan discovered a soil bacterium producing a new family of antibiotic compounds in 1957, naming them rifamycins after a French crime film; the refined compound rifampicin was synthesized in 1965, marketed in Italy in 1968, and approved in the United States in 1971. Rifampicin is manufactured from the soil bacterium Amycolatopsis rifamycinica and appears on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Facts
Drug Class
Ansamycin antibiotic (rifamycin group) 1
Mechanism of Action
Decreases RNA production by bacteria 1
Approved Use
Tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium complex, leprosy and Legionnaires' disease 1
First Approved / Isolated Year
1971 1
Significant Risk
Liver problems or allergic reactions 1
Classification
Approval Status
Approved 1
ATC ClassSourced to the subject's own account
J: Antiinfectives for Systemic Use 2
Route of Administration
Intravenous 1
WHO Essential MedicineSourced to the subject's own account
Core List 3
Sources
1. Rifampicin (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section, paragraph 2, starting at character 314
    Rifampicin is of the rifamycin group of antibiotics.
  • Lead section, paragraph 2, starting at character 367
    It works by decreasing the production of RNA by bacteria.
  • Lead section, paragraph 1, starting at character 0
    Rifampicin, also known as rifampin, is an ansamycin antibiotic used to treat several types of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium avium complex, leprosy, and Legionnaires' disease.
  • Lead section, paragraph 3, starting at character 0
    Rifampicin was discovered in 1965, marketed in Italy in 1968, and approved in the United States in 1971.
  • Lead section, paragraph 2, starting at character 140
    Liver problems or allergic reactions may occur.
  • Lead section, route-of-administration statement
    Rifampicin may be given either by mouth or intravenously.
  • Regulatory approval status
View the Source
2. Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFirst-level anatomical group codes, Code J
Quote, First-level anatomical group codes, Code J
Antiinfectives for systemic use
View the Source
3. WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWHO Model List of Essential Medicines, Antituberculosis medicines section
Quote, WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, Antituberculosis medicines section
Rifampicin
View the Source
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