Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18378709›Full record

ArticleAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy2008

Differential antibiotic susceptibility of Mycobacterium abscessus variants in biofilms and macrophages compared to that of planktonic bacteria.

Rebecca Greendyke, Thomas F Byrd

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 90 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
90citing papers in PubMed
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

90 citing papers in PubMed, 145 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Journal of bacteriology · 2026
    Review
  4. From colonisation to chronicity: adaptation ofMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026
    Article
  5. The Role of β-Lactam Antibiotics in Treating Mycobacterium abscessus: From Laboratory Insights to Clinical Applications and the Case for Clinical Trials.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Expanding the scope ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. A Case Report of Wound Infection Caused byInfection and drug resistance · 2025
    Article
  13. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Effects of Bithionol againstAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  16. Nitric oxide-releasing prodrug for the treatment of complexAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2024
    Article
  17. Article
  18. A laboratory perspective onFrontiers in microbiology · 2024
    Review
  19. Exploring antibiotic resistance mechanisms inFrontiers in microbiology · 2024
    Review
  20. Isoegomaketone exhibits potential as a newFrontiers in microbiology · 2024
    Article

30 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Rebecca GreendykeThe University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
Thomas F Byrd
University of New Mexico · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mycobacterium abscessus causes refractory pulmonary infections requiring surgery for cure. It exists as a smooth biofilm-forming phenotype which is noninvasive and a rough, non-biofilm-forming phenotype which can invade macrophages and cause persistent pulmonary infection in mice. We have postulated that the dissociation of the smooth phenotype to the rough phenotype may lead to invasive lung disease following initial colonization of the airways. Amikacin, cefoxitin, and clarithromycin are standard therapies for this infection. We determined the MICs of these antibiotics against this pathogen in biofilms and macrophages, the niches that it likely occupies in the human host. Our results demonstrate that even though the MICs indicate sensitivity to these antibiotics, the minimal bactericidal concentrations for amikacin and clarithromycin were substantially higher and were out of the range of the concentrations achievable in serum. Cefoxitin demonstrated only bacteriostatic activity. In addition, although amikacin had modest activity against M. abscessus in biofilms, clarithromycin demonstrated only minimal activity at the highest concentrations tested. Our results indicate that M. abscessus in mature biofilms is in a stationary-phase state and that clarithromycin is relatively inactive against stationary-phase M. abscessus. In human macrophages, all three antibiotics were only bacteriostatic for M. abscessus variants at 10 times their MICs. These results suggest why treatment failure with antibiotics alone is common in the clinical setting of M. abscessus pulmonary infection. Determination of the efficacies of new antibiotics should include an assessment of their activities against the smooth and rough M. abscessus morphotypes in biofilms and macrophages.

Indexed as

AmikacinAnti-Bacterial AgentsBiofilmsCells, CulturedClarithromycinColony Count, MicrobialHost-Pathogen InteractionsHumansMacrophagesMicrobial Sensitivity TestsMycobacterium Infections, NontuberculousNontuberculous MycobacteriaPlanktonAmikacinAnti-Bacterial AgentsClarithromycin

Identifiers

PMID18378709
PMCPMC2415760
OpenAlexW2038672409

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.