Rifampicin

Rifampicin is a rifamycin antibiotic that binds bacterial RNA polymerase and blocks RNA synthesis. It is used chiefly in tuberculosis treatment and in combination regimens for several other bacterial infections.

Bacterial RNA polymerase: The enzyme that transcribes bacterial DNA into RNA. Rifampicin binds its beta subunit and prevents RNA-chain elongation.
Tuberculosis: An infectious disease caused by bacteria in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Rifampicin is a core drug in standard treatment regimens.
Rifamycins: A family of antibiotics that inhibit bacterial RNA polymerase. Rifampicin is a clinically prominent member of this family.
Isoniazid: An antibiotic used chiefly to prevent and treat tuberculosis by inhibiting mycolic acid synthesis. It targets the mycobacterial cell wall rather than RNA polymerase.
Transcription: The process of copying genetic information from DNA into RNA. Rifampicin interrupts this process in susceptible bacteria.
Latent tuberculosis infection: Tuberculosis infection without symptoms of active disease or evidence of ongoing transmission. Rifampicin is used in several preventive treatment regimens.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis: The bacterial species that causes most human tuberculosis. Its susceptibility to rifampicin makes the drug central to treatment.
Rifabutin: A rifamycin antibiotic used for selected mycobacterial infections, including in some patients with HIV. It has fewer interactions with some medicines than rifampicin.
rpoB: A bacterial gene that encodes the beta subunit of RNA polymerase. Mutations in rpoB commonly alter rifampicin's binding site.
Leprosy: A chronic infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Rifampicin is a key component of multidrug therapy.

Linked from 11 pages