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The use of antituberculotic short-term chemotherapeutic methods did not yet make its way on a larger scale in the treatment of the extrapulmonary tuberculosis on account of supposed peculiarities of the terrain. Therefore, the present clinical and experimental study had the aim to investigate the distribution of INH and RMP in the kidney and the radiometrical determination of their concentration directly in the tuberculous focus of the kidney. For this purpose the tritium labelling of the two basis antituberculotics mentioned was carried out. Apart from the description of the applied working and measuring technique, questions of the distribution of medicaments are discussed. The results made evident that also in kidneys widely destroyed by tuberculosis both INH after an intravenous application of 300 mg and RMP after oral application of 600 mg even in large tuberculous caverns achieve antimycobacterially effective concentrations. Indeed, there are considerable differences, however, the values were always far above the minimum inhibition concentration. Thus there are no terrain-caused peculiarities for the tuberculous kidney and also no restrictions as to the use of an optimized antituberculotic chemotherapy. The same is probably also applied to all other forms of the extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The newly developed method distinguishes itself by a high measuring exactness and could analogously be used in questions of the chemotherapy of malignant tumours.

With a rifampicin (RMP) range of 600 to 1800 mg, 12.5% of the administered dose are on an average secreted in urine. In spite of this minimal portion the course of pharmacokinetic processes can distinctly be learned from its alterations. Analyses in 84 patients revealed that the age will influence the induction and the sex-specific differences of the pharmacokinetics. Compared to male subjects, an increased RMP secretion in urine can be recorded in young female subjects, whereas in older male ones an induction-reduced RMP elimination in urine becomes more obviously. Considering these multiform processes, the determination of the bioavailability of RMP preparations by means of the RMP secretion in urine is taken to be manipulatable and uncertainly. More evident results can be gained by the determination of the RMP concentration in serum or by the calculation of the AUC.

Pharmacokinetic investigations in 75 patients receiving their first treatment for infectious lung tuberculosis gave the following results: RMP and its products of biotransformation are excreted via the urine in smaller amounts in patients above 55 years than in younger patients. In the older age group the induction phase - as measured by the urinary excretion of RMP - is also more marked than in younger patients. Both the serum RMP-concentration and the urinary excretion of RMP are significantly higher in women than in men. The sex specific differences in pharacokinetics seem to be of clinical importance. Because of the higher serum RMP-concentration it is possible to reduce the RMP-dosage 10% in female patients, even with intermittent administration, and to diminish the risk of dose-dependent side effects.