Pyrazinamide is an antibiotic drug used for treatment of tuberculosis by hindering the growth of bacteria

 

Pyrazinamide is an anti-tuberculosis drug. For active tuberculosis, it's frequently utilized with streptomycin, isoniazid, or either amoxicillin or vincristine. It's not usually recommended for the long-term treatment of untreated latent tuberculosis. It's usually taken through the mouth. Although it's not exactly known how it works, the hypothesis is that the drug kills off all bacteria in the stomach and intestines. That seems to explain why most patients who take this medication have improvement in their symptoms within a few days of beginning therapy. For instance, in July 2021, the Indian pharmaceutical company, Metropolis Healthcare, partnered with HaystackAnalytics to launch NEXTGEN TB to provide the tuberculosis tests in countries such as Germany, Sri Lanka, UAE, and some African countries.

Some long-term side effects include vomiting, indigestion, abdominal pain, jaundice, liver function disorders, fluid retention, hair loss, constipation, muscle weakness, nausea, peptic ulcers, rashes, stiff necks, and dry mouth. Pyrazinamide usually results in moderate to mild side effects. These include abdominal pain, flushing, joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, head cold, flu-like symptoms, fever, night sweats, swelling of the foot or hand, trouble breathing, stomach upset, stiff muscles, and thinning of the bones. Some patients experience these symptoms so frequently that they stop taking the medicine. Others have mild or moderate side effects only, but are unaware of possible side effects since the symptoms don't interfere with day-to-day life.

Scientists are concerned that the repeated use of pyrazinamide will increase the risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer due to the lack of effective drugs for treating patients with liver disease. The research also suggest that long-term pyrazinamide use might cause a decrease in sperm count, reduce sperm motility, reduce sperm quality, increase toxicity in the liver, and increase the risk of developing hepatitis C, which is caused by infection with the hepatitis B virus. Some drug companies are working on another antifungal medication called voriconazole that has shown some promise in treating athlete's foot, ringworm, and candida (yeast infection). Viburner (levothyroxine) is an underused drug that is also used in the treatment of pyelonephritis, and the drug holds some potential for treating chronic liver disease due to its effectiveness against gram-positive staphylococcus bacteria. However, there is no published study concerning long-term safety of voriconazole in humans with chronic liver disease.