SynthesisAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy2014
Meta-analysis of the adverse effects of long-term azithromycin use in patients with chronic lung diseases.
Synthesis in Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
42 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- European society for organ transplantation clinical practice guideline on prevention and treatment of chronic lung allograft dysfunction.Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation · 2026Guideline
- Efficacy of Long-Term Use of Azithromycin in the Management of Cystic Fibrosis in Pediatric Patients with or WithoutMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Long-Term Safety Profiles of Macrolides and Tetracyclines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Hydroxychloroquine plus standard of care compared with standard of care alone in COVID-19: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of long-term use of macrolides in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC infectious diseases · 2015Pooled it
- Trial
- Prevalence and abundance of selected genes conferring macrolide resistance genes in COPD patients during maintenance treatment with azithromycin.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2020Trial
- Impact of the anti-inflammatory macrolide glasmacinal on the gut microbiota of healthy adults: an open-label trial.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Remodelling of cystic fibrosis respiratory microbiota in response to extended elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor therapy.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Clinical Characteristics and Management of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Azithromycin in lung transplantation: revisiting its dual role from prophylaxis to therapy.ERJ open research · 2025Article
- Construction of an Indole-induced Transgenic System and Its Therapeutic Effects on Allergic Rhinitis.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
- Prophylactic azithromycin for chronic lung allograft dysfunction following lung transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- Challenges and Opportunities for the Management of COPD: A Narrative Review of Patient and Health Care Professional Perspectives.Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.) · 2025Article
- Gallic acid synergistically enhances the antibacterial activity of azithromycin in MRSA.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2025Article
- Effects of combined cyclosporin and azithromycin treatment on human mononuclear cells under lipopolysaccharide challenge.Frontiers in oral health · 2025Article
- Clinical and Economic Burden of COPD in Patients on Inhaled Triple Therapy in Germany - A Retrospective Claims Data Analysis.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025Article
- "Pleiotropic" Effects of Antibiotics: New Modulators in Human Diseases.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- In vitro synergy screens of FDA-approved drugs reveal novel zidovudine- and azithromycin-based combinations with last-line antibiotics against Klebsiella pneumoniae.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Precision Medicine in Asthma Therapy.Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The adverse effects of azithromycin on the treatment of patients with chronic lung diseases (CLD) were evaluated in the present study. MEDLINE and other databases were searched for relevant articles published until August 2013. Randomized controlled trials that enrolled patients with chronic lung diseases who received long-term azithromycin treatment were selected, and data on microbiological studies and azithromycin-related adverse events were abstracted from articles and analyzed. Six studies were included in the meta-analysis. The risk of bacterial resistance in patients receiving long-term azithromycin treatment was increased 2.7-fold (risk ratio [RR], 2.69 [95% confidence interval {95% CI}, 1.249, 5.211]) compared with the risk in patients receiving placebo treatment. On the other hand, the risk of bacterial colonization decreased in patients receiving azithromycin treatment (RR, 0.551 [95% CI, 0.460, 0.658]). Patients receiving long-term azithromycin therapy were at risk of increased impairment of hearing (RR, 1.168 [95% CI, 1.030, 1.325]). This analysis provides evidence supporting the idea that bacterial resistance can develop with long-term azithromycin treatment. Besides the increasingly recognized anti-inflammatory role of azithromycin used in treating chronic lung diseases, we should be aware of the potential for adverse events with its long-term use.
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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.