ReviewThe Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy2025
Bactericidal versus bacteriostatic antibacterials: clinical significance, differences and synergistic potential in clinical practice.
Review in The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dual anti-pseudomonal and resistance-modulatory actions ofPharmaceutical biology · 2026Article
- Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of tyrcinnamine derivatives as bactericides.Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2026Article
- Design, synthesis, and antibacterial activity study of pyrroloquinazoline diamine derivatives.Journal of enzyme inhibition and medicinal chemistry · 2026Article
- Green synthesis of a manganese oxide-selenium nanocomposite using watermelon peel waste with antimicrobial and mosquitocidal activities.RSC advances · 2026Article
- Anti-Streptococcal Activity of β-Thujaplicin and Its Effect on Natural Low-Level Resistance ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effect of human urinary microenvironment and fluid flow on antibiotic and phage therapy efficacy against uropathogenic Escherichia coli.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of a Chemically Characterized Cinnamomum verum Bark Methanolic Extract Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria: Preliminary Antibiotic-Interaction Screening and Exploratory Molecular Docking.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial Activity of Cinnamomum cassia Essential Oil: Phytochemical Profiling, In Vitro Evaluation, and Molecular Docking.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2026Article
- Carbon Quantum Dots-Enhanced Polyvinyl Alcohol: A Comprehensive Approach to Food Preservation.Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2026Review
- Macrolide antibiotic action, resistance, and tolerance, and approaches to improve their activity against Gram-negative bacteria.The Journal of antibiotics · 2026Review
- Ultrasonication-Enhanced Physicochemical Stability and Antimicrobial Efficacy of Zein-Based Nanomaterials Loaded With Cinnamaldehyde and D-Limonene.Journal of food science · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of linezolid versus vancomycin in the treatment of adult hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus Pneumonia (a systematic review).Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2026Review
- Discovery of a Novel Benzothiophene Inhibitor of Penicillin-Binding Protein 2 with Potent Gram-Positive Activity.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Biogenic synthesis and characterization of selenium nanoparticles by halotolerant Bacillus sonorensis 2MNHR.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Metal-Substituted Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles as Antimicrobial and Osteogenic Biomaterials for Hard-Tissue Applications.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles UsingInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- RNA-DNA Fusomer Fibers With Customizable Physicochemical, Mechanical, and Biological Properties for Next-Generation Therapeutics.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Dual-Action Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles: Innate Immune Activation and Silver Nanocluster-Mediated Targeting of Intracellular Bacteria.ACS nano medicine · 2026Article
- Green-SynthesizedJournal of functional biomaterials · 2026Article
- New Biocidal Additive for Resin-Based Dental Composites: Is Modification with Didodecyldimethylammonium Bromide (DDAB) Effective?Polymers · 2026Article
16 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Antibacterial activity can be classified as either bactericidal or bacteriostatic, using methods such as the MBC/MIC ratio and time-kill curves. However, such categorization has proven challenging in clinical practice, as these definitions only apply under specific laboratory conditions, which may differ from clinical settings. Several factors, such as the specific bacteria or infectious medium, can affect the action of antibiotics, with many antibacterials exerting both activities. These definitions have also led to the belief that bactericidal antibacterials are superior to bacteriostatic, especially in more severe cases, such as endocarditis, neutropenia and bacteraemia. Additionally, current dogma dictates against the combination of bactericidal and bacteriostatic antibacterials in clinical practice, due to potential antagonism. This review aimed to assess the differences in antibacterial activity of bactericidal and bacteriostatic antibacterials based on in vitro and in vivo studies and examine their antagonistic or synergistic effects. Our findings show that specific bacteriostatic agents, such as linezolid and tigecycline, are clinically non-inferior to bactericidals in multiple infections, including pneumonia, intra-abdominal infections, and skin and soft tissue infections. Studies also support using several bacteriostatic agents as salvage therapies in severe infections, such as neutropenic fever and endocarditis. Additionally, not all combinations of bacteriostatic and bactericidal agents appear to be antagonistic, with many combinations, such as linezolid and rifampicin, already being used. The findings should be interpreted with caution, as most evidence is from observational studies and there is a need for randomized controlled trials to assess their effectiveness and combinations, especially within the context of rising antimicrobial resistance.
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Registered trials
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