Rifampin is an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis. This drug caught my interest as to what effects it would have on the kidney, since this drug is used for the whole duration of treatment and that it changes the color of urine and other body fluids. Some renal side effects that would be seen while taking this drug would be elevations in the BUN and serum uric acid. This drug primarily eliminated by hepatic metabolism, and what we need to watch closely for is hepatotoxicity especially when the patients have some kind of liver disease . Patients taking this drug should also be educated that the discoloration of body fluids while taking this drug is a harmless effect.
Reference : Burcham, Jacqueline & Rosenthal, Laura. (2016). Lehne’s Pharmacology for Nursing Care. (9th ed). Saunders, Elsevier Inc.
