Poor Bioavailability of Rifampicin-A Global Emergency

The use of Fixed dose combinations (FDCs) of antitubercular drugs in the short course chemotherapy of tuberculosis is being promoted internationally. However poor bioavailability of rifampicin has been perceived as a major bottleneck in successful treatment of tuberculosis. It perhaps is amongst one of the contributory factor which may lead to increasing resistance to anti-tubercular drugs. The present article critically focuses on various probable physical and/or chemical reasons responsible for poor/variable bioavailability of rifampicin in FDC and suggests the various approaches which may be successfully employed to overcome the aforementioned problems associated with rifampicin in FDCs.