November 9, 2015

expert reaction to a study investigating the association between the use of macrolide antibiotics and cardiovascular risk

Publishing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, scientists have examined a link between a specific type of antibiotics (macrolides) and cardiac events, reporting an increased risk for two specific problems in people taking such drugs.

Dr Yalda Jamshidi, Senior Lecturer in Human Genetics, Cardiovascular and Cell Sciences Institute, St George’s, University of London, said:

“The study by Cheng et al supports a well-established phenomenon of drug-induced cardiac arrhythmias as a potential side effect of some cardiac and non-cardiac drugs. The current study provides a robust estimate of the arrhythmia risk associated with macrolide antibiotic treatment, but shouldn’t be seen as a reason for patients on these drugs to worry. Careful monitoring of patients by clinical examination and by performing an electrocardiogram could increase the chance to diagnose and treat any serious arrhythmia as early as possible. In addition clinicians prescribing these drugs should also look for the presence of additional risk factors such as low potassium levels, female gender and drug interactions, which can increase the potential arrhythmia risk. Finally, as the authors correctly say, their study has the limitation of being a retrospective analysis and further large randomised control trials are needed to confirm these findings.”

‘The Role of Macrolide Antibiotics in Increasing Cardiovascular Risk’ by Cheng et al. published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Monday 9th November. 

Declared interests

Dr Yalda Jamshid: I have no conflicts of interest to declare