SynthesisPLoS neglected tropical diseases2010
A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of albendazole compared with metronidazole as treatments for infections with Giardia duodenalis.
Synthesis in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 122 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of drugs for treating giardiasis: a systematic update of the literature and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2018Pooled it
- ACG Clinical Guideline: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Acute Diarrheal Infections in Adults.The American journal of gastroenterology · 2016Guideline
- Efficacy of 5-nitroimidazoles for the treatment of giardiasis: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2014Pooled it
- Drugs for treating giardiasis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Effect of anthelmintic treatment on serum free IGF-1 and IGFBP-3: a cluster-randomized-controlled trial in Indonesia.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Giardia duodenalis infection in the context of a community-based deworming and water, sanitation and hygiene trial in Timor-Leste.Parasites & vectors · 2019Trial
- Prevalence of intestinal protozoa infection among school-aged children on Pemba Island, Tanzania, and effect of single-dose albendazole, nitazoxanide and albendazole-nitazoxanide.Parasites & vectors · 2013Trial
- Treatment with anthelminthics during pregnancy: what gains and what risks for the mother and child?Parasitology · 2011Trial
- Omeprazole as a Novel Treatment Option for Giardiasis in Cats.Veterinary medicine and science · 2026Article
- Article
- Diversity and Prevalence of Helminths and Protozoa Among Pregnant Women in Tropical Ecuador: Implications for Chemotherapy.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Structural Insights into theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Synthesis and Pharmacological Characterization of Metronidazole-Oxadiazole Derivatives.Iranian journal of medical sciences · 2023Article
- Prevalence of Giardiasis and Entamoeba Species in Two of the Six Governorates of Kuwait.Journal of parasitology research · 2022Article
- Retrospective study of canine endoparasites diagnosed by fecal flotation methods analyzed across veterinary parasitology diagnostic laboratories, United States, 2018.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- In vitro selection of Giardia duodenalis for Albendazole resistance identifies a β-tubulin mutation at amino acid E198K.International journal for parasitology. Drugs and drug resistance · 2021Article
- Sparse Evidence forPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Encapsulation of Low Metronidazole Dose in Poly (D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) Nanoparticles ImprovesInfection & chemotherapy · 2020Article
- Intestinal Schistosomiasis and Giardiasis Co-Infection in Sub-Saharan Africa: Can a One Health Approach Improve Control of Each Waterborne Parasite Simultaneously?Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2020Review
- Giardia lamblia: Laboratory Maintenance, Lifecycle Induction, and Infection of Murine Models.Current protocols in microbiology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMetronidazole is the most commonly used drug for the treatment of giardiasis in humans. In spite of its therapeutic efficacy for giardiasis, low patient compliance, especially in children, side effects, and the emergence of metronidazole-resistant strains may restrict its use. Albendazole has been used to treat Giardia duodenalis infections in recent years. However, efficacy studies in vivo and in vitro have produced diverse results as to its effectiveness. A moderately benign side effect profile, combined with established efficacy against many helminths, renders it promising for treatment of giardiasis in humans. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL
findingsWe performed a search in the PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, the ISI Web of Science, LILIACS, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register for trials published before February 2010 as well as in references of relevant research and review articles. Eight randomized clinical trials (including 900 patients) comparing the effectiveness of albendazole with that of metronidazole were included in meta-analysis. After extracting and validating the data, the pooled risk ratio (RR) was calculated using an inverse-variance random-effects model. Albendazole was found to be equally as effective as metronidazole in the treatment of giardiasis in humans (RR 0.97; 95% CI, 0.93, 1.01). In addition, safety analysis suggested that patients treated with albendazole had a lower risk of adverse effects compared with those who received metronidazole (RR 0.36; 95% CI, 0.10, 1.34), but limitations of the sample size precluded a definite conclusion. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The effectiveness of albendazole, when given as a single dose of 400 mg/day for 5 days, was comparable to that of metronidazole. Patients treated with albendazole tended to have fewer side effects compared with those who took metronidazole. Given the safety, effectiveness, and low costs of albendazole, this drug could be potentially used as an alternative and/or a replacement for the existing metronidazole therapy protocols in the treatment of giardiasis in humans.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.