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REVIEW article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1668983

This article is part of the Research TopicPerspectives in Clinical Infectious Diseases: 2024/2025View all 14 articles

Comparative effectiveness and safety of vancomycin versus linezolid for the treatment of central nervous system infections: A meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Liujun  ZhouLiujun Zhou1Qihui  YaoQihui Yao1Zecheng  WangZecheng Wang1Lingyan  YuLingyan Yu2*Zhenwei  YuZhenwei Yu1*Yuhua  ZhaoYuhua Zhao3*
  • 1Department of Pharmacy, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Hangzhou, China
  • 2The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • 3Zhejiang Xiaoshan Hospital, Hangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objectives: This study conducted a meta-analysis comparing vancomycin and linezolid for treating central nervous system (CNS) infections, addressing the lack of comprehensive evaluations in existing research on antibiotic therapy for CNS infections. Methods: We systematically searched databases, including the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Chinese databases, up to April 22, 2025. All eligible randomized controlled trials and cohort studies of vancomycin or linezolid were included. The clinical success rate was the primary outcome of interest. The secondary outcomes of interest were cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters, systemic inflammatory markers and the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed the study quality (NOS/ROB 2.0). The meta-analysis employed random/fixed-effects models to calculate pooled dichotomous outcomes (ORs) and continuous outcomes (SMDs) with 95% CIs via RevMan 5.4. Results: This meta-analysis included 17 studies (6 head-to-head). Clinical cure rates were not significantly different between vancomycin (84.7%, 222/262) and linezolid (79.7%, 200/251), with a pooled OR of 1.29 (95% CI: 0.55-2.99; p =0.56), while substantial heterogeneity existed (I 2 =58%). The secondary outcomes showed no differences but suffered extreme heterogeneity (I² >90%). Safety analysis revealed a significantly greater ADR with vancomycin (21.0% vs. 15.1%; OR 1.63, 95% CI: 1.01-2.65; p = 0.05) with low heterogeneity (I² = 15%). Conclusion: Vancomycin and linezolid have similar effectiveness in CNS infection from current available evidences, but vancomycin is associated with a greater risk of ADR. Treatment selection should be based on patients' individual characteristics, such as risk of thrombocytopenia, renal function, and availability of therapeutic drug monitoring.

Keywords: Vancomycin, linezolid, Central Nervous System Infections, Safety, meta analysis

Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Yao, Wang, Yu, Yu and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Lingyan Yu, The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
Zhenwei Yu, Department of Pharmacy, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Hangzhou, China
Yuhua Zhao, Zhejiang Xiaoshan Hospital, Hangzhou, China

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