Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34506737›Full record

ReviewThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2022

The importance of understanding the infectious microenvironment.

Thomas Bjarnsholt, Marvin Whiteley, Kendra P Rumbaugh, Philip S Stewart, Peter Ø Jensen, Niels Frimodt-Møller

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
27.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

102 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 185 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. ImagingmBio · 2026
    Article
  5. Mesolens imaging in microbiology.Essays in biochemistry · 2026
    Review
  6. Review
  7. M.O.I.S.T. Concept for the Local Therapy of Chronic Wounds: An International Update.The international journal of lower extremity wounds · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Shaken batch cultures ofMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. The dual role of the microbiome in chronic wound management.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. mSystems · 2026
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Biofilms: from the cradle of life to life support.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026
    Review
  19. Review
  20. Article

42 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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Thomas BjarnsholtDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: tbjarnsholt@sund.ku.dk.
Marvin WhiteleySchool of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; Emory-Children's Cystic Fibrosis Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Kendra P RumbaughDepartment of Surgery, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA.
Philip S StewartCenter for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Peter Ø JensenDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Niels Frimodt-MøllerDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Copenhagen University Hospital · DKMontana State University · USTexas Tech University Health Sciences Center · US

Funding

Probing Polymicrobial Synergy Using hihg Throughout GenomicsR01DE023193 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI LAMONT, RICHARD J, WHITELEY, MARVIN · 2013 to 2023
$4.7M
Metabolite sensing in a polymicrobial infectionR01DE020100 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI WHITELEY, MARVIN · 2011 to 2022
$3.3M
Biobehavioral mechanisms underlying symptoms and healing outcomes in older individuals with CVLUR01NR016986 · NINR · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI LYON, DEBRA E · 2018 to 2022
$2.7M
Mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence in polymicrobial wound infectionsR01GM116547 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · PI WHITELEY, MARVIN · 2016 to 2019
$1.2M
Utilizing Glycoside Hydrolases to Degrade Biofilms in WoundsR21AI137462 · NIAID · TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIS CENTER · PI RUMBAUGH, KENDRA P · 2019 to 2020
$286k
NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI137462NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE020100NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE023193NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM116547NINR NIH HHS R01 NR016986
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Standard doses of antibiotics do not efficiently treat chronic infections of the soft tissue and bone. In this Personal View, we advocate for improving treatment of these infections by taking the infectious microenvironment into account. The infectious microenvironment can cause sensitive bacteria to lose their susceptibility to antibiotics that are effective in standard laboratory susceptibility testing. We propose that bacteria behave substantially different in standard laboratory conditions than they do in actual infections. The infectious microenvironment could impose changes in growth and metabolic activity that result in increased protection against antibiotics. Therefore, we advocate that improved antibiotic treatment of chronic infection is achievable when antibiotics are recommended on the basis of susceptibility testing in relevant in vitro conditions that resemble actual infectious microenvironments. We recommend establishing knowledge of the relevant conditions of the chemical and physical composition of the infectious microenvironment. Recent advances in RNA sequencing, metabolomics, and microscopy have made it possible for the characterisation of the microenvironment of infections and to validate the clinical relevance of in vitro conditions to actual infections.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsBacteriaHumansAnti-Bacterial Agents

Identifiers

PMID34506737
PMCPMC9190128
OpenAlexW3198193705

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.