What is pyrazinamide?

pyrazinamide is a drug used in the treatment of tuberculosis, lung disease that develops due to infection with bacterial species called mycobacterium tuberculosis . This slow -growing species is resistant to treatment and the effective course of treatment of tuberculosis usually takes six to nine months and sometimes even longer. Treatment with this drug in conjunction with other tuberculosis medicines may reduce the treatment time required within a few months. However, most people do not proceed to active infection. Symptoms of active tuberculosis infection include fever, weight loss and chronic cough, which could produce bloody sputum. These symptoms occur because the bacteria colonizes in the lungs and causes chronic infection that the immune system cannot be easily overcome. Untreated tuberculosis infection eventually on severe necrosis of lung tissue and death due to respiratory failure. This means that it does not kill bacteria, but only slows its growth rate. For this reason, pyzinamide itself is not an effective treatment of tubeRkulosis. Instead, this drug must be used in combination with one or more drugs for tuberculosis that are bacteriocidal, which means they are able to kill bacteria. Pyrazinamide is not entirely effective alone, but often adds to the course of tuberculosis, because its ability to slow bacterial growth is to reduce the duration of treatment.

This remedy for tuberculosis works by interfering with the activity of the enzyme mycobacterium tuberculosis called pyrazinamidase. When bacteria are exposed to pyrazinamide, the enzyme pyrazinamidase converts the drug into a toactive form called pyrazinoic acid. The exact way in which pyrazinoic acid reduces the rate of bacteria growth is not known; Some theories suggest that it could disrupt the synthesis of fatty acids or disrupt the cell membrane of bacteria.

treatment with this drug can cause several side effects. One of the most common isMild joint pain and other relatively common side effects include vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite, anemia, skin rash and fever. Toxic doses of drugs can cause hepatitis and liver damage.

One of the most useful aspects of this drug is its ability to shorten the duration of the necessary treatment. This is important because the treatment program with a long time and high complexity can reduce patient adherence to the course of drugs. Tuberculosis tends to be more common in people who live below poverty or are homeless, and compliance is a particularly serious problem. As with traditional antibiotics, unfinished immersion immersed can lead to the development of drug -resistant tribe, so it is essential for the treatment regimens to be friendly to the patient. Pyrazinamide is an important tool in achieving this goal.