ReviewPulmonary pharmacology & therapeutics2021
The immunomodulatory effects of macrolide antibiotics in respiratory disease.
Review in Pulmonary pharmacology & therapeutics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 3 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
71 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical characteristics and associated factors of macrolide-resistant mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Increased risk of hearing loss associated with macrolide use: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Azithromycin for Preschoolers with Wheezing in the Emergency Department.The New England journal of medicine · 2026Trial
- The Effect of Chronic Azithromycin Use in Winter on Health Care Utilization for Children With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: A Double Blind Randomized Controlled Study (RCT).Pediatric pulmonology · 2025Trial
- Effects of erythromycin dosage on clinical outcomes in stable non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis: A randomized controlled trial.Medicine · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Antibiotic treatment for non-specific upper respiratory tract infections and exacerbation risk in children with asthma: a target trial emulation study.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Impact of the anti-inflammatory macrolide glasmacinal on the gut microbiota of healthy adults: an open-label trial.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Azithromycin in Dentistry: From Systemic Antibiotic to a Candidate for Local Therapeutic Delivery.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Cardiovascular Risk During the 90-Day Vulnerable Window After COPD Exacerbations: A Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Analgesic and antioxidant potential of tulathromycin: evidence from molecular docking, in vitro assay, and in vivo model.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Assessment of Compliance with National and International Guidelines in the Empirical Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) in Lebanese Hospitals: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Challenges and opportunities in the management of severe pneumonia. Key concepts from the Seventh Annual Meeting of Spanish Experts 2025.Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2026Review
- Comparative Effectiveness of Azithromycin Versus Doxycycline in Hospitalized Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia Treated With Beta-Lactams: A Multicenter Matched Cohort Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Piperacillin/tazobactam plus erythromycin improves clinical outcomes in AECOPD with bacterial lower respiratory tract infections: a retrospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Novel nucleoside analogs exhibit potent intracellular andMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Differential Modulation of Macrophage Polarization and NF-κB Signaling by Distinct Antibiotics in an in vitro Acute Inflammatory Model.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Article
- Comparison of the therapeutic performance of macrolide antibiotics on macrolide-resistant or macrolide-susceptible Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Clinical characteristics and macrolide resistance analysis of pertussis in children: a retrospective study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Macrolide antibiotics are well known for their antibacterial properties, but extensive research in the context of inflammatory lung disease has revealed that they also have powerful immunomodulatory properties. It has been demonstrated that these drugs are therapeutically beneficial in various lung diseases, with evidence they significantly reduce exacerbations in patients with COPD, asthma, bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis. The efficacy demonstrated in patients infected with macrolide tolerant organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa supports the concept that their efficacy is at least partly related to immunomodulatory rather than antibacterial effects. Inconsistent data and an incomplete understanding of their mechanisms of action hampers the use of macrolide antibiotics as immunomodulatory therapies. Macrolides recently demonstrated no clinically relevant immunomodulatory effects in the context of COVID-19 infection. This review provides an overview of macrolide antibiotics and discusses their immunomodulatory effects and mechanisms of action in the context of inflammatory lung disease.
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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.