Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18385376›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2008

Purported nanobacteria in human blood as calcium carbonate nanoparticles.

Jan Martel, John Ding-E Young

Erratum issuedOpen access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
11.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 135 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Jan MartelDepartment of Biochemistry and Cellular Molecular Biology, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hua First Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan 333, Taiwan, Republic of China. jan.martel@usherbrooke.ca
John Ding-E Young
Chang Gung University · TWRockefeller University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests a role for nanobacteria in a growing number of human diseases, including renal stone formation, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. This large body of research studies promotes the view that nanobacteria are not only alive but that they are associated with disease pathogenesis. However, it is still unclear whether they represent novel life forms, overlooked nanometer-size bacteria, or some other primitive self-replicating microorganisms. Here, we report that CaCO(3) precipitates prepared in vitro are remarkably similar to purported nanobacteria in terms of their uniformly sized, membrane-delineated vesicular shapes, with cellular division-like formations and aggregations in the form of colonies. The gradual appearance of nanobacteria-like particles in incubated human serum as well as the changes seen with their size and shape can be influenced and explained by introducing varying levels of CO(2) and NaHCO(3) as well as other conditions known to influence the precipitation of CaCO(3). Western blotting reveals that the monoclonal antibodies, claimed to be specific for nanobacteria, react in fact with serum albumin. Furthermore, nanobacteria-like particles obtained from human blood are able to withstand high doses of gamma-irradiation up to 30 kGy, and no bacterial DNA is found by performing broad-range PCR amplifications. Collectively, our results provide a more plausible abiotic explanation for the unusual properties of purported nanobacteria.

Indexed as

BacteriaCalcium CarbonateNanoparticlesAntibodies, MonoclonalBiofilmsCarbon DioxideChemical PrecipitationHumansSerumSerum AlbuminSodium BicarbonateAntibodies, MonoclonalCalcium CarbonateCarbon DioxideSerum AlbuminSodium Bicarbonate

Identifiers

PMID18385376
PMCPMC2291092
OpenAlexW2036610485

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.