01693nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653003100059653002500090653001000115653002300125653001100148653002300159653001200182653000900194653002300203653001700226653001300243100001500256700001800271700001600289245007600305300001100381490000700392050003200399520094600431022001401377       1996                            d  c1996 Apr-Jun10aAdministration, Intranasal10aAdministration, Oral10aAdult10aCross-Over Studies10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aNasal Lavage Fluid10aNasal Mucosa10aRifampin1 aMamidi N V1 aPrabhakar M C1 aKrishna D R00aDisposition of rifampicin following intranasal and oral administration.  a149-530 v68  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>Leprosy is transmitted by dissemination of M.leprae which are lodged in the nose of the patients suffering from multibacillary (MB) type of the disease. Rifampicin, a potent bactericidal antileprotic drug is given orally to the patients with a view to make the infective cases non-infective. Earlier work by us has shown that intranasal administration of rifampicin helps in reducing the M.leprae load in the nose much faster than after conventional oral administration. In the present study, rifampicin concentrations in plasma/urine/nasal wash of healthy volunteers following oral and intranasal administration were determined. Following intranasal administration, rifampicin was not detectable in plasma and high concentrations were measured in the nasal wash. Following oral administration, rifampicin was not detectable in the nasal wash indicating that enough antibiotic levels are not available for clearing M.leprae from nose.</p>  a0254-9395