Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37234244›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2023

Effectiveness and safety of multidrug therapy containing clofazimine for paucibacillary leprosy and clarithromycin for rifampicin-resistant leprosy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Thais Montezuma, Sebastian Vernal, Elaine Nascimento Andrade, Jurema Guerrieri Brandão, Gustavo Laine Araújo de Oliveira, Ciro Martins Gomes

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 20% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Pathogenesis of Cutaneous Mycobacterial Infections-International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  3. ImprovedEuropean journal of medicinal chemistry reports · 2024
    Article
  4. Article
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 4 institutions in 1 country.

Thais MontezumaHealth Technology Assessment Unit, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, São Paulo, Brazil.
Sebastian VernalLIM-49, Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Elaine Nascimento AndradeCoordenação-Geral de Vigilância das Doenças em Eliminação, Ministério da Saúde do Brasil, Brasília, Brazil.
Jurema Guerrieri BrandãoCoordenação-Geral de Vigilância das Doenças em Eliminação, Ministério da Saúde do Brasil, Brasília, Brazil.
Gustavo Laine Araújo de OliveiraCoordenação-Geral de Vigilância das Doenças em Eliminação, Ministério da Saúde do Brasil, Brasília, Brazil.
Ciro Martins GomesPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Médicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.
Ministério da Saúde · BRUniversidade de Brasília · BRHospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz · BRInstituto de Medicina Avançada · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: The present study aimed to evaluate leprosy cure and relapse rates as primary outcomes related to two additional strategies for leprosy treatment: clofazimine for paucibacillary (PB) leprosy patients and clarithromycin for patients with rifampicin-resistant leprosy. Methods: We conducted two systematic reviews (protocols CRD42022308272 and CRD42022308260). We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, LILACS, Virtual Health Library and Cochrane Library databases, registers of clinical trial databases and gray literature. We included clinical trials evaluating the addition of clofazimine to PB leprosy treatment and the use of clarithromycin for treating patients with rifampicin-resistant leprosy. Risk of bias (RoB) in randomized clinical trials was assessed by the RoB 2 tool and that in non-randomized clinical trials was assessed by the ROBINS-I tool; and the certainty of the evidence was assessed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. A meta-analysis of dichotomous outcomes was performed. Results: For clofazimine, four studies were included. Cure and relapse rates were not different with the addition of clofazimine to PB leprosy treatment and demonstrated very low certainty of evidence. For clarithromycin, six studies were included. Considerable heterogeneity resulted from the difference between comparators, and studies showed no difference in the assessed outcomes with the addition of clarithromycin to rifampicin-resistant leprosy treatment. Mild adverse events were reported for both drugs but did not significantly impact treatment. Discussion: The effectiveness of both drugs still needs to be determined. Adding clofazimine to PB leprosy treatment may reduce the repercussions of an incorrect operational classification with no apparent relevant side effects. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022308272; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022308260, identifier: CRD42022308272; CRD42022308260.

Indexed as

drug resistanceGRADE approachleprosymeta-analysismicrobialsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID37234244
PMCPMC10206035
OpenAlexW4376113705

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.