Ethambutol 375mg/5ml oral solution
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Antibacterial drugs
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
Report a side effect
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
View Drug Analysis Profile
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Ethambutol
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Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
View EudraVigilance report
Suspected adverse reactions reported for Ethambutol
About EudraVigilance
Learn about EU pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring
EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
1 branded products available
WHO defined daily dose (DDD)
1.2 gram
Not a recommended dose. The DDD is the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. It is a statistical measure used for research and comparison purposes only.
Source: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology, distributed via NHS dm+d BNF mapping files. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Ethambutol
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
NICE clinical guidance(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. emc (electronic medicines compendium) is operated by Datapharm Ltd. Shortage information sourced from NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), sps.nhs.uk.
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
3.3 hours
Mechanism
Ethambutol diffuses into Mycobacterium cells.
Food interactions
2 warnings
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
75-80%
[L31663][L31748]
A 25 mg/kg oral dose of ethambutol reaches a Cmax of 2-5 µg/mL, with a Tmax of 2-4 hours.
[L31663][L31748]…
Half-life
3.3 hours
[L31748]…
Protein binding
20-30%
[L31748]
Data regarding which proteins ethambutol binds to are not readily available.
Volume of distribution
76.2 L
[A228953]
Metabolism
[A228948][A228963][L31663]…
Elimination
50%
[L31663][L31748]…
Clearance
77.4 L/h
[A228953]
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Ethambutol was granted FDA approval on 6 November 1967.[L31663]
[L31663]
Ethambutol is commonly used in combination with [isoniazid], [rifampin], and [pyrazinamide].
[L31743]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1233 interactions
[A228993]
In these cases, ethambutol should be stopped.
[A228993]
Data regarding acute overdose of ethambutol are not readily available. Patients experiencing an acute overdose of ethambutol may be experience an increased risk and severity of adverse effects such as pruritus, joint pain, gastrointestinal upset, abdominal pain, malaise, headache, dizziness, mental confusion, disorientation, and possible hallucinations.
[L31663][L31748]
Patients should be treated with symptomatic and supportive measures.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[L31663][L31748]
A 25 mg/kg oral dose of ethambutol reaches a Cmax of 2-5 µg/mL, with a Tmax of 2-4 hours.
[L31663][L31748]
In a separate study, the AUC0-8 varied from 6.3 ± 5.5 h\*mg/L to 10.8 ± 7.6 h\*mg/L depending on CYP1A2 genetic polymorphisms.
[A228953]
[L31748]
In patients with renal failure, the half life could be 7 hours or longer.
[L31748]
[L31748]
Data regarding which proteins ethambutol binds to are not readily available.
[A228953]
[A228948][A228963][L31663]
[L31663][L31748]
20-22% of a dose is eliminated unchanged in the feces.
[L31663][L31748]
[A228953]
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
ATC J04AM10
ATC J04AK02
ATC J04AM03
ATC J04AM09
ATC J04AM06
ATC J04AM07
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Show
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Ethambutol
Additional database identifiers
Drugs Product Database (DPD)
20261
ChemSpider
13433
BindingDB
50448407
PDB
95E
ZINC
ZINC000019364219
UniProt Accession
EMBC_MYCTU
UniProt Accession
EMBB_MYCTU
UniProt Accession
EMBA_MYCTU
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2596
GenAtlas
CYP1A2
GeneCards
CYP1A2
GenBank Gene Database
Z00036
Guide to Pharmacology
1319
UniProt Accession
CP1A2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2631
GeneCards
CYP2E1
GenBank Gene Database
J02625
GenBank Protein Database
181360
Guide to Pharmacology
1330
UniProt Accession
CP2E1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2621
GeneCards
CYP2C19
GenBank Gene Database
M61854
GenBank Protein Database
181344
Guide to Pharmacology
1328
UniProt Accession
CP2CJ_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2625
GenAtlas
CYP2D6
GeneCards
CYP2D6
GenBank Gene Database
M20403
GenBank Protein Database
181350
Guide to Pharmacology
1329
UniProt Accession
CP2D6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2610
GenAtlas
CYP2A6
GeneCards
CYP2A6
GenBank Gene Database
X13897
Guide to Pharmacology
1321
UniProt Accession
CP2A6_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2623
GenAtlas
CYP2C9
GeneCards
CYP2C9
GenBank Gene Database
AY341248
Guide to Pharmacology
1326
UniProt Accession
CP2C9_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_HUMAN
International reference pricing
Reference pricing from DrugBank. Prices are indicative and may not reflect current UK costs.
Source: DrugBank. Used under CC BY-NC 4.0 academic licence for non-commercial purposes.
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: