Consequently, bedaquiline should be given with food. The active drug undergoes oxidation primarily in the Blasticidin S mw liver, by cytochrome P3A4 (CYP3A4), to a less active metabolite N-monodesmethyl (M2) that has a three- to six-fold lower antimicrobial effect than bedaquiline [17]. Hence, co-administration of drugs that potentiate CYP3A4, such as rifampicin, is likely to reduce the plasma concentrations of the bedaquiline and potentially reduce its effectiveness. Conversely, drugs that inhibit these enzymes, such as protease inhibitors, macrolide antibiotics, and azole antifungals, may increase systemic concentrations and the likelihood of adverse events. The primary metabolite of bedaquiline, M2, is removed mainly in the stool,

with only 1–4% removed in the urine [15]. Although patients with advanced renal impairment were excluded from Phase 1 and 2 studies, mild-to-moderate renal impairment (median creatinine clearance 108 mL/min, find more range 39.8–227 mL/min) did not affect the

drug’s pharmacokinetics [17]. Bedaquiline has a multi-phasic distribution and an effective half-life of 24 h, which is substantially longer than most other anti-tuberculosis drugs [14, 15]. Importantly, the drug has a very long terminal elimination half-life of 5.5 months [17], owing to a AG-881 chemical structure combination of a long plasma half-life, high tissue penetration (particularly the organs affected by TB), and long half-life in tissues [14]. While this means that less frequent dosing may be feasible, adverse events may also be prolonged after drug cessation. The initial safety studies of bedaquiline found that its pharmacokinetics was not influenced by age, sex, body weight, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-co-infection in the absence of anti-retroviral treatment [17]. In these studies, subjects of black ethnicity had lower concentrations of bedaquiline than other races. Of note, in light of this finding, bedaquiline did not improve treatment outcomes in one sub-group of people of African ancestry in a recent clinical trial [17]. The pharmacokinetics of bedaquiline has only been studied in adults from 18–65 years, and not yet in pediatric or elderly populations.

Phase 2 studies suggest that there is no need to adjust dose for patients with hepatic or renal impairment, although Sclareol caution should be used in patients with severe renal or hepatic disease [18]. Dosing and Administration Bedaquiline is currently available as an oral, uncoated, immediate-release tablet which contains 100 mg of bedaquiline-free base [15]. The recommended dose, as a part of combination therapy for pulmonary MDR-TB, is 400 mg daily for 2 weeks, followed by 200 mg three times per week. Regimens used in published studies have given the drug as a part of MDR-TB therapy for up to 24 weeks in total [15, 18, 19]. The published pre-clinical and Phase 1 clinical studies of bedaquiline are summarized in Tables 1 [14–16, 20–54] and 2 [15, 55–60].