ReviewAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy2020
Fact versus Fiction: a Review of the Evidence behind Alcohol and Antibiotic Interactions.
Review in Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 5 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Dietary Interventions on the Pharmacokinetics of Antifungal Drugs: A Systematic Review with Meta-analyses.Clinical pharmacokinetics · 2025Pooled it
- Clinically important interactions of macrolides and tetracyclines with dietary interventions-a systematic review with meta-analyses.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Pooled it
- Together or Apart? Revealing the Impact of Dietary Interventions on Bioavailability of Quinolones: A Systematic Review with Meta-analyses.Clinical pharmacokinetics · 2024Pooled it
- Do dietary interventions exert clinically important effects on the bioavailability of β-lactam antibiotics? A systematic review with meta-analyses.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Pooled it
- Cardiovascular Effects of Chocolate and Wine-Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Ethanol as a Modifier of Drug Toxicity in Humans: Pathways of Toxicity and Organ-Level Consequences.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Traveling with HIV.Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines · 2026Review
- Understanding Patient Perceptions of Bacterial Vaginosis Treatments: Mixed Methods Sentiment Analysis Study of Online Drug Review Forums.Online journal of public health informatics · 2025Article
- Recent advances in alcohol metabolism: from the gut to the brain.Physiological reviews · 2025Review
- Patient Determinants and Effects on Adherence of Adverse Drug Reactions to Tuberculosis Treatment: A Prospective Cohort Analysis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Nutritional Deficiencies and Management in Tuberculosis: Pharmacotherapeutic and Clinical Implications.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Food-drug interactions: Modelling knowledge and attitude among healthcare professionals at the Ho Teaching Hospital.PloS one · 2025Article
- Drug interactions in patients with alcohol use disorder: results from a real-world study on an addiction-specific ward.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2025Article
- Vulvovaginitis in pregnant women.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2024Review
- Helicobacter Pylori: A Review of Current Treatment Options in Clinical Practice.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Vietnam Association of Gastroenterology (VNAGE) consensus on the management ofFrontiers in medicine · 2022Review
- Alcohol Use in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2021Article
- Advancing Endodormancy Release in Temperate Fruit Trees Using Agrochemical Treatments.Frontiers in plant science · 2021Review
- Metronidazole and alcohol.British dental journal · 2020Article
- Disulfiram-like reaction with ornidazole: A case report of a rare interaction.Turkish journal of emergency medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many antibiotics carry caution stickers that warn against alcohol consumption. Data regarding concurrent use are sparse. An awareness of data that address this common clinical scenario is important so health care professionals can make informed clinical decisions and address questions in an evidence-based manner. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the evidence behind alcohol warnings issued for many common antimicrobials. The search was conducted from inception of each database to 2018 using PubMed, Medline via Ovid, and Embase. It included studies that involved interactions, effects on efficacy, and toxicity/adverse drug reactions (ADR) due to concomitant alcohol consumption and antimicrobials. All interactions were considered in terms of three components: (i) alteration in pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of antimicrobials and/or alcohol, (ii) change in antimicrobial efficacy, and (iii) development of toxicity/ADR. Available data support that oral penicillins, cefdinir, cefpodoxime, fluoroquinolones, azithromycin, tetracycline, nitrofurantoin, secnidazole, tinidazole, and fluconazole can be safely used with concomitant alcohol consumption. Data are equivocal for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Erythromycin may have reduced efficacy with alcohol consumption, and doxycycline may have reduced efficacy in chronic alcoholism. Alcohol low in tyramine may be consumed with oxazolidinones. The disulfiram-like reaction, though classically associated with metronidazole, occurs with uncertain frequency and with varied severity. Cephalosporins with a methylthiotetrazole (MTT) side chain or a methylthiodioxotriazine (MTDT) ring, ketoconazole, and griseofulvin have an increased risk of a disulfiram-like reaction. Alcohol and antimicrobial interactions are often lacking evidence. This review questions common beliefs due to poor, often conflicting data and identifies important knowledge gaps.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.