Pharmacokinetics of caspofungin increased dosage in a patient on rifampin-containing anti-tubercular treatment

Abstract

We describe a patient treated with caspofungin and rifampin; after increasing the dosage of the former (70 mg/day) we observed an unexpectedly lower plasma exposure (AUC0-24 79.5 μg/ml*h vs. 108.8 μg/ml*h). Although rifampin-mediated complete enzyme induction may take longer than 2 weeks, the clinical advantage of an increased caspofungin dose deserves clinical investigation.