Trial reportSarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG2009
Steroid-sparing effects of pentoxifylline in pulmonary sarcoidosis.
Trial report in Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pentoxifylline decreases serum LDH levels and increases lymphocyte count in COVID-19 patients: Results from an external pilot study.International immunopharmacology · 2021Trial
- Atorvastatin in Severity-Stratified Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: A Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- D. Geraint James Lecture: The sarcoidosis saga: what insights from the past will guide us in the future.Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2023Article
- Efzofitimod: a novel anti-inflammatory agent for sarcoidosis.Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2023Article
- State-of-the-Art Treatments for Sarcoidosis.Methodist DeBakey cardiovascular journal · 2022Review
- Pentoxifylline as a Potential Adjuvant Therapy for COVID-19: Impeding the Burden of the Cytokine Storm.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Roflumilast (Daliresp®) to reduce acute pulmonary events in fibrotic sarcoidosis: a multi-center, double blind, placebo controlled, randomized clinical trial.Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2021Article
- Can pentoxifylline and similar xanthine derivatives find a niche in COVID-19 therapeutic strategies? A ray of hope in the midst of the pandemic.European journal of pharmacology · 2020Review
- Repositioning of pentoxifylline as an immunomodulator and regulator of the renin-angiotensin system in the treatment of COVID-19.Medical hypotheses · 2020Article
- Refractory Sarcoidosis: A Review.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2020Review
- Treatment of Sarcoidosis: A Multidisciplinary Approach.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Review
- A composite score to assess treatment response in pulmonary sarcoidosis: the Sarcoidosis Treatment Score (STS).Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2019Article
- Potential immunotherapies for sarcoidosis.Expert opinion on biological therapy · 2018Review
- Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in sarcoidosis.Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases : official journal of WASOG · 2017Review
- New molecular targets for the treatment of sarcoidosis.Current opinion in pulmonary medicine · 2016Review
- Key management considerations in sarcoidosis from the American Thoracic Society 2016 Conference.Journal of thoracic disease · 2016Article
- Treatment of Sarcoidosis.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2015Review
- Phosphodiesterase 4 inhibition in the treatment of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases.Dermatology and therapy · 2013Article
- Phosphodiesterase 4-targeted treatments for autoimmune diseases.BMC medicine · 2013Review
- [Granulomatous lung and systemic diseases].Der Internist · 2013Article
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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAgents that target pro-inflammatory cytokines may be useful in pulmonary sarcoidosis.
objectiveTo determine effectiveness of a non-selective cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor, pentoxifylline (POF).
designRandomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial,
settingClinical Research Center, National Institutes of Health. PATIENTS: 27 patients with biopsy-confirmed pulmonary sarcoidosis receiving prednisone.
interventionPlacebo or POF (1200-2000 mg/day) for 10 months, as prednisone was tapered. MEASUREMENTS: Primary endpoints: sustained improvement in two or more pulmonary function parameters, or a combination of one pulmonary function parameter and dyspnea.
resultsExcept for one patient, primary endpoints were not reached in POF-treated patients. Therefore, a post hoc analysis was performed. The observed relative risk reduction for flares associated with POF treatment was 54.9% (95% CI 0.21, 0.89) and the absolute risk reduction was 50.6% (95% CI 0.22, 0.80). Compared to placebo treatment, in the POF group, the mean prednisone dose was lower at 8 and 10 months (p = 0.007 and 0.01 respectively), and there was a trend towards less prednisone usage over the entire study period (p = 0.053), as determined by cumulative change analysis.
conclusionsAlthough our exploratory post hoc analysis suggested that POF reduced flares and had steroid-sparing effects, given the study limitations, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn regarding the efficacy of POF in pulmonary sarcoidosis. In addition, gastrointestinal side-effects, at the doses used, would seem to limit the use of POF in treating pulmonary sarcoidosis. Overall, however, this trial may provide a basis for using more specific, better-tolerated, PDE inhibitors in future clinical trials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
20560292PMC2946799W1510207525What 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.