A pharmacology perspective on simultaneous tuberculosis and hepatitis C treatment

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are both major public health problems. Despite high rates of coinfection, there is scarce literature addressing the convergence of the two diseases. One particularly unexplored area is the potential for simultaneous treatment of TB and HCV which would allow for leveraging an extensive global TB treatment infrastructure to help scale up HCV treatment. We review the drug metabolism of anti-TB and HCV drugs and the known and potential drug-drug interactions between recommended HCV regimens and individual anti-TB drugs. Rifampin is the only anti-TB drug to have been formally studied for potential drug interactions with anti-HCV direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), and existing data preclude these combinations. However, based on known pathways of drug metabolism and enzyme effects, the combination of HCV DAA regimens with all other anti-TB drugs may be feasible. Pharmacokinetic studies are needed next to help move cotreatment regimens forward for clinical use among patients coinfected with TB and HCV.