What Is Clofazimine?

Clofazimine soft capsules, 1. As the medicine of choice for treating leprosy, it should usually be used in combination with dapsone. 2. It is used in combination with rifampicin or ethionamide to treat infections caused by sulfone-resistant strains. 3 This product can also be used for erythema nodular leprosy reaction and acute leprosy reaction caused by other drugs. 4 This product can also be combined with other anti-tuberculosis drugs for AIDS patients with atypical mycobacterial infection, but the clinical efficacy is often not satisfactory. ^[1] .

Drug Name: Clofazimine soft capsules

Use classification: Anti-leprosy and leprosy response drugs

Clofazimine soft capsule ingredients

The main ingredient of this product is clofazimine, and its chemical name is: 10- (p-chlorophenyl) -2,10-dihydro-3- (p-chlorophenylamino) -2-isopropyliminophenazine .
Molecular formula: C ₂₇ H ₂₂ Cl ₂ N ₄
Molecular weight: 473.40

Properties of clofazimine soft capsule

This product is a gel pill, which contains a suspension oily liquid of brown-red or red-brown powder.

Indications of clofazimine soft capsules

1. As the medicine of choice for treating leprosy, it should usually be used in combination with dapsone.
2. It is used in combination with rifampicin or ethionamide to treat infections caused by sulfone-resistant strains.
3 This product can also be used for erythema nodular leprosy reaction and acute leprosy reaction caused by other drugs.
4 This product can also be combined with other anti-tuberculosis drugs for AIDS patients with atypical mycobacterial infection, but the clinical efficacy is often not satisfactory.

Dosage of clofazimine soft capsules

1. All types of leprosy-resistant leprosy, taken orally, 50 to 100 mg once, once a day, combined with one or more other anti-leprosy drugs.
2. Those with leprosy nodules and various types of leprosy who have nerve damage or a sign of skin ulcers, orally take 100 to 300 mg daily to help reduce and remove prednisone (40 to 80 mg daily). After the reaction is controlled, it gradually decreases to 100 mg per day. In order to achieve sufficient drug concentration in the tissue, the dosage of prednisone was gradually reduced after 2 months of administration. When there are no signs of nerve damage or skin ulcers, treat with various types of leprosy that are resistant to dapsone.
3 This product can be used in combination with other two anti-leprosy drugs. If possible, the three drugs should be combined for at least 2 years until the skin smear turns negative. Since then, continue to use a suitable drug.
4 Adult maximum daily dose is not more than 300mg. Pediatric doses have not been confirmed.

Adverse reactions of clofazimine soft capsules

1. Skin and mucosa staining is its main adverse reaction. Two weeks after taking the drug, red skin and mucous membranes can appear, which are pink, brown, and even black. The degree of coloring is directly proportional to the dose and course of treatment. After 2 months of withdrawal, the pigment gradually decreases, and it can be completed in about 1 to 2 years. This product can make urine, sweat, milk, semen and saliva light red, and can color the fetus through the placenta, but no teratogenicity has been reported. It should be noted that individual patients have depression caused by skin pigmentation reactions. It has been reported that 2 patients committed suicide due to depression after skin pigmentation. 2. About 70% to 80% of patients treated with this product have ichthyosis-like skin changes, especially in limbs and winter. It can be improved from 2 to 3 months after withdrawal. 3. This product can cause gastrointestinal reactions such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea.

Clofazimine soft capsule contraindications

1 Those who are allergic to this product are prohibited. 2 Patients with severe liver and kidney dysfunction and gastrointestinal disorders.

Precautions for clofazimine soft capsules

1. Use with caution if you have a history of gastrointestinal disorders or liver damage and are intolerant to this product. 2. Should be taken with food or milk. 3. To prevent drug resistance, this product should be used in combination with one or more other anti-leprosy drugs. 4. When treating multiple bacillary leprosy with erythema nodule leprosy reaction, this product can be used in combination with adrenal cortex hormones if there is a nerve damage or a threat of skin ulcer. 5. A variety of bacillary (boundary, boundary-tumor-type and tumor-type leprosy) leprosy treatment should last more than 2 years and even be administered for life. 6. Closely observe when the daily dose exceeds 100mg, and the course of treatment should be as short as possible. 7. Interference to diagnosis: It can cause accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation, elevated blood glucose, albumin, serum aminotransferase and bilirubin, and decreased serum potassium. 8. During the period of medication, patients with abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea should be reduced, prolonged the interval of drug administration or discontinued. This product can penetrate the placenta and enter the milk, which can stain the skin of newborns and nursing infants. Pregnant women should avoid using this product, and breastfeeding women should not use this product. In case of overdose, induce vomiting, gastric lavage, catharsis, and symptomatic and supportive treatment if necessary.

Clofazimine soft capsules for pregnant and lactating women

This product can penetrate the placenta and enter the milk, which can stain the skin of newborns and nursing infants. Pregnant women should avoid using this product, and breastfeeding women should not use this product.

Clofazimine soft capsule drug interactions

1 When this product is combined with dapsone, its anti-inflammatory effect is reduced, but it does not affect the antibacterial effect. 2 When this product is used in combination with rifampicin, it may reduce the absorption rate of rifampicin and delay its peak time.

Pharmacology and toxicology of clofazimine soft capsules

This product not only has a slow bactericidal effect on leprosy, but also is effective against mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium ulcerans in combination with other anti-mycobacterial drugs. In addition, it also has anti-inflammatory effects, and is effective for the treatment and prevention of nodules and polymorphous erythema in type II leprosy reactions. Its antibacterial effect may interfere with the leprosy's nucleic acid metabolism, bind to its DNA, inhibit DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, prevent RNA synthesis, and thereby inhibit the synthesis of bacterial proteins and exert its antibacterial effect. The anti-inflammatory effect of this product may be related to the stabilization of lysosomal membrane of cells.