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Analysis of institutional authors

Aira, AndreaAuthorFeher, CsabaAuthorSoriano, AlexCorresponding Author

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November 12, 2019
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The Intestinal Microbiota as a Reservoir and a Therapeutic Target to Fight Multi-Drug-Resistant Bacteria: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Publicated to: Infectious Diseases and Therapy. 8 (4): 469-482 - 2019-10-25 8(4), DOI: 10.1007/s40121-019-00272-7

Authors:

Aira, Andrea; Feher, Csaba; Rubio, Elisa; Soriano, Alex
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Affiliations

Hosp Clin Barcelona, Dept Clin Microbiol, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Dept Infect Dis, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain - Author
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Abstract

The appearance and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly in specific closed environments such as intensive care units of acute care hospitals, have become a major health concern. The intestinal microbiota has various functions including host protection from overgrowth or colonization by unwanted bacteria. The exposure to antibiotics significantly reduces the bacterial density of intestinal microbiota leaving an ecologic void that can be occupied by potentially pathogenic and/or resistant bacteria frequently present in hospital settings. Consequently, the intestinal microbiota of inpatients acts as a major reservoir and plays a critical role in perpetuating the spread of resistant bacteria. There are novel innovative methods to protect the host microbiota during antibiotic treatment, but they do not offer a solution for already established colonization by resistant microorganisms. Fecal microbiota transfer (FMT) is a promising intervention to achieve this goal; however, controlled trials report lower success rates than initial retrospective studies, especially in case of gram negatives. The aim of the present article is to highlight the importance of the intestinal microbiota in the global spread of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms and to review the recent advances to protect the human microbiota from the action of antibiotics as well as a critical discussion about the evidence of decolonization of MDR microorganisms by FMT.
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Keywords

decolonizationfecal microbiota transfer (fmt)fecal microbiota transplantintestinal microbiotamulti-drug-resistant (mdro) bacteriaCarriageClostridium-difficile infectionDecolonizationEradicationFecal colonizationFecal microbiota transfer (fmt)Fecal microbiota transplantGastrointestinal colonizationGenesGut microbiotaIntestinal microbiotaLactamase-producing enterobacteriaceaeMulti-drug-resistant (mdro) bacteriaReservoirRisk-factorsTransplantation

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Infectious Diseases and Therapy due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position 21/92, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Infectious Diseases.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-27:

  • WoS: 18
  • Scopus: 19
  • Europe PMC: 8
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 71.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 71 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Aira Gomez, Andrea) and Last Author (Soriano Viladomiu, Alex).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Soriano Viladomiu, Alex.

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Awards linked to the item

This study was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the project PI16/01023'' (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund Investing in your future''). No funding was received for the publication of this article.
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