Adverse reactions of antituberculous drugs

The duration of the treatment for tuberculosis has become shorter than before, because of the extensive use of rifampicin (RFP) and isoniazid (INH) together with streptomycin or ethambutol in advanced cases. Adverse reactions of these drugs were experienced. The authors analyzed the side effects by serological and hematological examinations. One hundred and sixty male and eighty six female patients treated for tuberculosis and nontuberculous pulmonary mycobacteriosis were subjected to the present study. Fifty five patients (22.4%) developed the elevation of transaminase levels more than 50 mIU/ml. Among these patients, 11, 6 and 4 patients revealed abnormal values of ALP, LDH, gamma-GTP, respectively. High transaminase levels were often shown in men, but the patients with particularly high transaminase levels (more than 200 mIU/ml) were often seen in women. Forty patients (16.3%) showed eosinophilia over 10% in hemogram.