<p>Pyrazinamide may be bacteriostatic or bactericidal in action, depending on the concentration of the drug attained at the site of the infection and the susceptibility of the infecting organism. Its activity appears to partly depend on conversion of the drug to pyrazinoic acid (POA), which lowers the pH of the environment below that which is necessary for growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Susceptible strains of M. tuberculosis produce pyrazinamidase, an enzyme that deaminates pyrazinamide to POA, and the in vitro susceptibility of a given strain of the organism appears to correspond to its pyrazinamidase activity.</p>