Trial reportWorld journal of gastroenterology2008
N-acetyl-L-cysteine combined with mesalamine in the treatment of ulcerative colitis: randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study.
Trial report in World journal of gastroenterology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preventing Colitis-Associated Colon Cancer With Antioxidants: A Systematic Review.Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology · 2021Pooled it
- Antioxidant therapy for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease: Does it work?Redox biology · 2015Pooled it
- Trial
- Individual variability shapes ex vivo responses to resistant starch in inflammatory bowel disease derived microbiomes.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- The role of dietary factors in the prevention and management of inflammatory bowel disease: a comprehensive review.Nutrition & metabolism · 2025Review
- Salivary oxidative stress persists in inflammatory bowel disease regardless of biological treatment response.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Oxidative stress in gut TImmunometabolism (Cobham, Surrey) · 2024Article
- Enhancement of efferocytosis through biased FPR2 signaling attenuates intestinal inflammation.EMBO molecular medicine · 2023Article
- Reactive Oxygen Species and Ferroptosis at the Nexus of Inflammation and Colon Cancer.Antioxidants & redox signaling · 2023Review
- Potential Use of Antioxidant Compounds for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Extraintestinal Manifestations in Induced Colitis: Controversial Effects ofOxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2023Article
- Effects of Troponoids on Mitochondrial Function and Cytotoxicity.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2022Article
- Review
- Metabolic activation and colitis pathogenesis is prevented by lymphotoxin β receptor expression in neutrophils.Mucosal immunology · 2021Article
- Efficacy and clinical monitoring strategies for immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted cytokine immunotherapy for locally advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer.Cytokine & growth factor reviews · 2019Review
- Hydrogen peroxide production by lactobacilli promotes epithelial restitution during colitis.Redox biology · 2018Article
- ROS in gastrointestinal inflammation: Rescue Or Sabotage?British journal of pharmacology · 2017Review
- Roles of Dietary Amino Acids and Their Metabolites in Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Mediators of inflammation · 2017Review
- Pathomechanisms of Oxidative Stress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Potential Antioxidant Therapies.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2017Review
- Antioxidant Supplements and Gastrointestinal Diseases: A Critical Appraisal.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) co-administration with mesalamine in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients.
methodsThirty seven patients with mild to moderate UC were randomized to receive a four-wk course of oral mesalamine (2.4 g/d) plus N-acetyl-L-cysteine (0.8 g/d) (group A) or mesalamine plus placebo (group B). Patients were monitored using the Modified Truelove-Witts Severity Index (MTWSI). The primary endpoint was clinical remission (MTWSI < or = 2) at 4 wk. Secondary endpoints were clinical response (defined as a reduction from baseline in the MTWSI of > or = 2 points) and drug safety. The serum TNF-alpha, interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and MCP-1 were evaluated at baseline and at 4 wk of treatment.
resultsAnalysis per-protocol criteria showed clinical remission rates of 63% and 50% after 4 wk treatment with mesalamine plus N-acetyl-L-cysteine (group A) and mesalamine plus placebo (group B) respectively (OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 0.46 to 6.36; P = 0.19; NNT = 7.7). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of data indicated a significant reduction of MTWSI in group A (P = 0.046) with respect to basal condition without significant changes in the group B (P = 0.735) during treatment. Clinical responses were 66% (group A) vs 44% (group B) after 4 wk of treatment (OR = 2.5; 95% CI: 0.64 to 9.65; P = 0.11; NNT = 4.5). Clinical improvement in group A correlated with a decrease of IL-8 and MCP-1. Rates of adverse events did not differ significantly between both groups.
conclusionIn group A (oral NAC combined with mesalamine) contrarily to group B (mesalamine alone), the clinical improvement correlates with a decrease of chemokines such as MCP-1 and IL-8. NAC addition not produced any side effects.
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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.