Trial reportNeurogastroenterology and motility2010
Serum correlates of the placebo effect in irritable bowel syndrome.
Trial report in Neurogastroenterology and motility, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Probiotic supplementation does not improve eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori infection compared to placebo based on standard therapy: a meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2016Pooled it
- Predictive biomarkers of placebo response in patients with cancer: an exploratory analysis of the ABCD randomized clinical trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Molecular classification of the placebo effect in nausea.PloS one · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Circulating markers of vascular injury and angiogenesis in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis.Arthritis and rheumatism · 2011Trial
- Placebo response variability on health-related quality of life outcomes in irritable bowel syndrome: an arm-based network meta-analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Article
- Placebo hypoalgesic effects in pain: Potential applications in dental and orofacial pain management.Seminars in orthodontics · 2018Article
- Mechanisms of the placebo effect in pain and psychiatric disorders.The pharmacogenomics journal · 2016Review
- Unanticipated Insights into Biomedicine from the Study of Acupuncture.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2016Article
- Neuroplastic Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Painful Symptoms Reduction in Chronic Hepatitis C: A Phase II Randomized, Double Blind, Sham Controlled Trial.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2015Article
- Placebo studies and ritual theory: a comparative analysis of Navajo, acupuncture and biomedical healing.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2011Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND In diseases defined primarily by the subjective nature of patient self-report, placebo effects can overwhelm the capacity of randomized controlled trials to detect medication-placebo differences. Moreover, it is unclear whether such placebo effects represent genuine psychobiological phenomena or just shifts in selective attention. Knowledge of predictors of the placebo response could improve the design of clinical trials and the delivery of personalized medical care. METHODS In patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a subset of our previous study that were randomized to placebo treatment (sham acupuncture) or no-treatment group (waitlist), we tested an enriched panel of 10 serum biomarkers at the enrolment and the 3rd week of intervention, using a multiplex electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. KEY RESULTS More pronounced changes overtime in serum levels of osteoprotegerin (OPG) have been found in patients who received placebo treatment compared with the waitlist group (P = 0.039). Moreover, serum levels of OPG at baseline were found to be higher (P = 0.0167) in patients who subsequently achieved adequate relief (AR) of their IBS symptoms, independently of their treatment group. Besides, serum levels of TNF-related weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) at baseline were also higher (P = 0.0144) in patients who reported AR and in particular in those who received the placebo treatment. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES These two measurable biological parameters associated with placebo, namely serum OPG and TWEAK, provide a proof of principle for discovering putative molecular signatures of placebo response in IBS and perhaps in other illnesses with patient self-reported outcomes.
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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.