Trial reportBMC pulmonary medicine2004
Randomised, controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine for treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [ISRCTN21676344].
Trial report in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mucolytics for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy Of N-Acetyl-Cysteine as Adjuvant Therapy for Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis: An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial.Archives of Iranian medicine · 2025Trial
- A double-blind randomized controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Respirology case reports · 2024Trial
- N-acetylcysteine in patients with COPD exacerbations associated with increased sputum.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2015Trial
- Erdosteine reduces inflammation and time to first exacerbation postdischarge in hospitalized patients with AECOPD.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2015Trial
- N-acetylcysteine: evidence based consensus document on the therapeutic advantages in respiratory diseases (NECTAR).Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Physiology and pathophysiology of mucus and mucolytic use in critically ill patients.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
- Advances in the Use ofAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Therapeutic Potential of Small Molecules Targeting Oxidative Stress in the Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A Comprehensive Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Safety of N-Acetylcysteine at High Doses in Chronic Respiratory Diseases: A Review.Drug safety · 2021Review
- Endoplasmic reticulum stress and glutathione therapeutics in chronic lung diseases.Redox biology · 2020Review
- Dysregulation of the glutaredoxin/American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2020Article
- N-acetylcysteine in the Management of Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.Cureus · 2019Article
- Scientific Papers and Patents on Substances with Unproven Effects. Part 2.Recent patents on drug delivery & formulation · 2019Review
- Medication Regimens for Managing COPD Exacerbations.Respiratory care · 2018Review
- Emerging pharmaceutical therapies for COPD.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2017Review
- Therapeutic Approaches to Acquired Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Dysfunction in Chronic Bronchitis.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2016Review
- Mitochondria in lung disease.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2016Review
- Oxidative stress and free radicals in COPD--implications and relevance for treatment.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2014Review
- Cigarette smoke and CFTR: implications in the pathogenesis of COPD.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundProphylactic treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for 3 months or more is associated with a reduction in the frequency of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This raises the question of whether treatment with NAC during an acute exacerbation will hasten recovery from the exacerbation.
methodsWe have examined this in a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Subjects, admitted to hospital with an acute exacerbation of COPD, were randomised within 24 h of admission to treatment with NAC 600 mg b.d. (n = 25) or matching placebo (n = 25). Treatment continued for 7 days or until discharge (whichever occurred first). To be eligible subjects had to be > or = 50 years, have an FEV1 < or = 60% predicted, FEV1/VC < or = 70% and > or = 10 pack year smoking history. Subjects with asthma, heart failure, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases were excluded. All subjects received concurrent treatment with prednisone 40 mg/day, nebulised salbutamol 5 mg q.i.d and where appropriate antibiotics. FEV1, VC, SaO2 and breathlessness were measured 2 hours after a dose of nebulised salbutamol, at the same time each day. Breathlessness was measured on a seven point Likert scale.
resultsAt baseline FEV1 (% predicted) was 22% in the NAC group and 24% in the control group. There was no difference between the groups in the rate of change of FEV1, VC, SaO2 or breathlessness. Nor did the groups differ in the median length of stay in hospital (6 days for both groups).
conclusionsAddition of NAC to treatment with corticosteroids and bronchodilators does not modify the outcome in acute exacerbations of COPD.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.