ArticleInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease2011
Long-term azithromycin therapy in patients with severe COPD and repeated exacerbations.
Article in International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of long-term macrolide therapy at low doses in stable COPD.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2019Pooled it
- [Spanish COPD Guidelines (GesEPOC): Pharmacological treatment of stable COPD].Atencion primaria · 2012Guideline
- Predictors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation reduction in response to daily azithromycin therapy.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2014Trial
- Echinacea can help with Azithromycin in prevention of recurrent tonsillitis in children.American journal of otolaryngologyTrial
- Identification and Validation of Promising Targets and Inhibitors of Biofilm Formation inPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Effect of Erythromycin in Macrolide-resistantCurrent pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2025Article
- Time to Rethink Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome Following Lung or Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Pediatric Patients.Cancers · 2024Review
- Azithromycin Exposure in a 10-Day Window of Myocardial Infarction and Short- and Long-Term Outcomes.JACC. Advances · 2024Article
- Mucus Hypersecretion in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Treatment.Mediators of inflammation · 2023Review
- Delivering macrolide antibiotics to heal a broken heart - And other inflammatory conditions.Advanced drug delivery reviews · 2022Review
- Immunomodulatory Effects of Azithromycin Revisited: Potential Applications to COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- Interventional low-dose azithromycin attenuates cigarette smoke-induced emphysema and lung inflammation in mice.Physiological reports · 2020Article
- Current Challenges in Chronic Bronchial Infection in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Azithromycin induces epidermal differentiation and multivesicular bodies in airway epithelia.Respiratory research · 2019Article
- Macrolides for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Chinese medical journal · 2019Article
- Nebulized Colistin And Continuous Cyclic Azithromycin In Severe COPD Patients With Chronic Bronchial Infection Due ToInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2019Article
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease subpopulations and phenotyping.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2018Review
- Chronic Respiratory Infection in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: What Is the Role of Antibiotics?International journal of molecular sciences · 2017Review
- Macrolides: a promising pharmacologic therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Therapeutic advances in respiratory disease · 2017Review
- Impact and prevention of severe exacerbations of COPD: a review of the evidence.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to determine whether long-term intermittent azithromycin therapy reduces the frequency of exacerbation in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
methodsWe retrospectively investigated the clinical benefits of long-term azithromycin (500 mg orally three times per week) over 12 months in patients with severe COPD and a minimum of four acute exacerbations (AECOPD) per year or chronic bronchial colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, comparing the number of AECOPD, hospitalizations due to respiratory disease, days of hospital stay, and bacterial infections during azithromycin treatment and in the year prior to this therapy.
resultsTwenty patients who completed the 12-month treatment period were analyzed. No clinically significant adverse events were observed during azithromycin treatment. Compared with baseline data, azithromycin therapy significantly reduced the number of AECOPD (2.8 ± 2.5 versus 6.8 ± 2.8, P < 0.001), hospitalizations (1.4 ± 1.5 versus 3.6 ± 1.4, P < 0.001), and cumulative annual days of hospital stay (25 ± 32.2 versus 43.7 ± 21.4, P = 0.01). The improvement was particularly significant in patients with exacerbations caused by common potentially pathogenic microorganisms, who had 70% fewer AECOPD and hospitalizations. Patients colonized by P. aeruginosa had reductions of 43% in AECOPD and 47% in hospitalizations.
conclusionLong-term azithromycin is well tolerated and associated with significant reductions in AECOPD, hospitalizations, and length of hospital stay in patients with severe COPD.
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Registered trials
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