Cutting TB drug dosage in half reduces hearing loss, maintains efficacy.

Researchers in the Netherlands have discovered that carefully reducing the recommended dose of amikacin and kanamycin by half could spare patients this side effect without sacrificing the regimen’s efficacy. Jan-Willem C. Alffenaar, PhD, PharmD, associate professor in the department of clinical pharmacy and pharmacology at the University of Groningen, and colleagues wrote in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The aminoglycosides amikacin and kanamycin — two second-line injectable drugs for the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB — have both been associated with “profound and permanent” toxicity, with 8% to 37% of patients experiencing hearing loss and nephrotoxicity after taking them for any period of time, according to researchers. Prolonged treatment with the drugs and at higher doses may compound these problems. continue