Daptomycin, a cyclic lipopeptide that exhibits rapid, concentration-dependent bactericidal activity in vitro against a broad spectrum of Gram-positive pathogens, has now, since 2003, been approved in more than 70 countries and regions to treat skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the safety and efficacy of daptomycin with other antibiotics, especially with vancomycin which has long been considered the standard therapy for complicated SSTIs.
We thoroughly searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central to identify relevant RCTs. Six RCTs with a total of 1710 patients were included in this meta-analysis.
The results demonstrated that the efficacy of daptomycin was at par with or maybe better than other first-line antibiotics for treating SSTIs as shown by the OR for clinical success (OR=1.05, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.31, p=0.65, I 2=0%); daptomycin versus vancomycin subgroup (OR=1.19, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.83, p=0.43, I 2=0%); overall microbiological success (OR=1.05, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.79, p=0.86, I 2=42%); microbiological success of daptomycin versus comparators for Staphylococcus aureus (SA, OR=1.05, 95% CI 0.61 to 2.60, p=0.53, I 2=47%), for methicillin-resistant S . aureus (OR=0.90, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.06, p=0.20, I 2=56%). However, daptomycin tended to have a similar treatment-related adverse events (AEs) incidence in comparison with other antibiotics (OR=1.06, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.59, p=0.76, I 2=41%). The trend showed that daptomycin might cause less discontinuation due to AEs and death compared with other first-line antibiotics (OR=0.71, 95% CI 0.46 to 1.10, p=0.12, I 2=11%). Significantly more patients in the daptomyicn group had creatine phosphokinase elevation than those in the control group; however, it could be reversed when the therapy ended (OR=1.95, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.65, p=0.04, I 2=0).
This meta-analysis demonstrated that the safety and efficacy of daptomycin was not inferior to that of other first-line drugs, and daptomycin tended to exhibit superior efficacy when compared with vancomycin or with comparators for SA infections; nevertheless, more high-quality RCTs are needed to draw a more credible conclusion.