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Journal of Medical Microbiology logo Journal of Medical Microbiology

Volume 71, Issue 8

JMM profile: rifampicin: a broad-spectrum antibiotic Open Access

This article is part of the JMM Profiles collection

Abstract

Rifampicin (also known as rifampin) inhibits RNA synthesis, and is used to treat tuberculosis, leprosy, staphylococcal infections and legionnaires’ disease. It can also protect at-risk populations from type b and . It is a polyketide antibiotic and is on the World Health Organization (WHO) list of essential medicines due to its critical importance to human medicine. The adverse effect of liver toxicity is controlled by testing during prolonged treatment regimes. Rifampicin’s red–orange colour can result in the colouration of sweat, tears and urine. Resistance to rifampicin arises from mutation of the target RNA polymerase or ADP ribosylation of the antibiotic or efflux. Mycobacteria may become singularly resistant to rifampicin or as part of multidrug or extensive drug resistance.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): antimicrobial resistance , rifampin , RNA synthesis and tuberculosis
© 2022 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2022-08-05
2025-03-19
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JMM profile: rifampicin: a broad-spectrum antibiotic
J. Med. Microbiol. 71, 001566 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001566
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001566
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001566
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