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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Mar 16;23(1):163.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-023-08102-5.

Efficacy of azithromycin in treating Ureaplasma urealyticum: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Weibin Fan #  1   2 , Qisheng Wang #  3 , Zuyu Liang  4 , Jinyu Wang  5 , Lin Zhang  6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Efficacy of azithromycin in treating Ureaplasma urealyticum: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Weibin Fan et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Ureaplasma urealyticum is the most prevalent genital mycoplasma isolated from the urogenital tract of females, but there is no unified treatment plan. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of azithromycin in treating Ureaplasma urealyticum.

Methods: From the earliest to June 2022, published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on azithromycin treatment of Ureaplasma urealyticum were retrieved by searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Two reviewers independently extracted the data. We utilized the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment technique to assess the quality of included RCTs. The data were analyzed using the R language (version 4.0.4) software.

Results: Seven RCTs were finally included, involving 512 participants (240 in the experimental group, 272 in the control group). The experimental group was treated with azithromycin monotherapy, while the control group was treated with doxycycline or a placebo. Meta-analysis results suggested that azithromycin has a comparable therapeutic effect on Ureaplasma urealyticum in comparison to that of controls (risk ratio [RR] = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.94-1.12). Subgroup analysis showed that the dose and duration of azithromycin may don't affect its efficacy.

Conclusion: Regarding the meta-analysis that we performed based on existing clinical studies, azithromycin is quite effective in treating Ureaplasma urealyticum.

Keywords: Azithromycin; Efficacy; Female; Meta-analysis; Ureaplasma urealyticum.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of study selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of the efficiency of azithromycin treatment for Ureaplasma urealyticum infection
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of the efficiency of azithromycin treatment for Ureaplasma urealyticum infection versus Chinese traditional medicine arm and doxycycline arm
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of the efficiency of azithromycin treatment for Ureaplasma urealyticum infection in a single dose of 1 g arm and 0.5 g QD for 7 days arm
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Funnel plot of the publication bias of azithromycin treatment efficiency
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Results of the risk of bias assessment using RoB2
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Bar chart overview and per-study risk of bias rating for RCT studies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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