Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40134637›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2025

Impact of Antibiotic Duration on Gut Microbiome Composition and Antimicrobial Resistance: A Substudy of the BALANCE Randomized Controlled Trial.

Eric Armstrong, Maria Kulikova, Noelle Yee, Asgar Rishu, John Muscedere, Stephanie Sibley, David Maslove, J Gordon Boyd, Gerald Evans, Michael Detsky and 11 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2025. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
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

21 authors.

Eric ArmstrongToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4530-6631
Maria KulikovaToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Noelle YeeToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1817-5768
Asgar RishuSunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
John MuscedereDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Stephanie SibleyDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
David MasloveDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
J Gordon BoydDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Gerald EvansDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2557-0897
Michael DetskyCritical Care Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
John MarshallCritical Care Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7902-6291
Linda R TaggartDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jan O FriedrichCritical Care, Unity Health Toronto, St Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jennifer L Y TsangNiagara Health Knowledge Institute, Niagara Health, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1809-0505
Erick DuanDivision of Critical Care, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Karim Ali FirdousDivision of Infectious Diseases, Niagara Health, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
David McCullaghDivision of Infectious Diseases, Niagara Health, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
Aidan FindlaterInfectious Diseases, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4698-7536
Rob FowlerSunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Nick DanemanSunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bryan CoburnToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Maintaining a diverse gut microbiome and minimizing antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) carriage through reduced antibiotic utilization may decrease antimicrobial resistance. We compared gut microbiome disruption and ARG carriage following 7 or 14 days of antibiotics for treatment of bacteremia in a substudy of the BALANCE randomized controlled trial. Methods: The BALANCE randomized controlled trial enrolled 3631 participants with bacteremia, who were randomized 1:1 to receive 7 or 14 days of antibiotics. Rectal swabs were collected from 131 participants and analyzed with metagenomic sequencing to characterize the gut microbiome and ARGs. The primary outcome was change in gut microbiome diversity at day 7 vs 14. Results: Forty-one participants (n = 28 in the 14-day group, n = 13 in the 7-day group) had samples available for the primary analysis, with an imbalance in piperacillin-tazobactam exposure between groups. Change in gut microbiome diversity at day 7 vs 14 was comparable between the 14-day group (median, 0.07; IQR, -0.46 to +0.51) and 7-day group (median, 0.19; IQR, -0.77 to +0.22; Conclusions: In this subset of patients from the BALANCE randomized controlled trial, we did not detect greater gut microbiome disruption or ARG carriage among participants who received 14 vs 7 days of antibiotics, but we were limited by small sample size and imbalances between groups.

Indexed as

antibioticsantimicrobial resistanceantimicrobial stewardshipbacteremiamicrobiome

Identifiers

PMID40134637
PMCPMC11935739

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.