High rifampicin peak plasma concentrations accelerate the slow phase of bacterial decline in tuberculosis patients: Evidence for heteroresistance
Fig 5
Comparison of the smoothed averages of the clinical trial and model predictions on sputum bacterial counts over time.
This figure compares the smoothed averages of the clinical trial (Fig 5A, this is the same plot as in Fig 2E), the predicted decline of bacteria in cavity walls if the slowdown is caused by heteroresistance (Fig 5B) or persistence (Fig 5C). We generated these plots using pharmacokinetic models in the cavity wall with the same Cmax values as in Fig 5A (10…80 mg/l). Finally, Fig 5D shows the difference between the curves on Fig 5A and 5B: on all days and Cmax values combined, the X axis shows the model predictions and the Y axis shows the smoothed averages of the clinical trial ().