Rifapentine is a
rifamycin derivate approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for the treatment of active,
drug-susceptible
tuberculosis (TB). In 2014,
rifapentine was approved for the treatment of latent TB
infection in patients at high risk of progression to active disease and is currently under evaluation by the European Medicines Agency. Expanding indications of
rifapentine largely affect diabetes patients, since about one-third of them harbor latent TB. Clinical consequences of
rifapentine use in this population and potentially harmful interactions with
hypoglycemic agents are widely underexplored and generally considered similar to the ones of
rifampicin. Indeed,
rifapentine too may decrease blood levels of many oral
antidiabetics and compete with them for protein-binding sites and/or transporters. However, the two drugs differ in protein-binding degree, the magnitude of
cytochrome P450 induction and auto-induction, the degree of renal elimination, and so on.
Rifapentine seems to be more suitable for use in diabetes patients with renal impairment, owing to the fact that it does not cause renal toxicity, and it is eliminated via kidneys in smaller proportions than
rifampicin. On the other hand, there are no data related to
rifapentine use in patients >65 years, and
hypoalbuminemia associated with
diabetic kidney disease may affect a free fraction of
rifapentine to a greater extent than that of
rifampicin. Until more pharmacokinetic information and information on the safety of
rifapentine use in diabetic patients and
drug-drug interactions are available, diabetes in TB patients treated with
rifapentine should be managed with
insulin analogs, and
glucose and
rifapentine plasma levels should be closely monitored.