Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22254063›Full record

ArticleNutrients2010

Reexamination of a meta-analysis of the effect of antioxidant supplementation on mortality and health in randomized trials.

Hans K Biesalski, Tilman Grune, Jana Tinz, Iris Zöllner, Jeffrey B Blumberg

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nutrients, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

31 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Vitamin E for Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
    Pooled it
  4. Vitamin E for Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
    Pooled it
  5. Vitamin E for Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012
    Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Perspectives on the Clinical Development of NRF2-Targeting Drugs.Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2021
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Improvement of cognitive and motor performance with mitotherapy in aged mice.International journal of biological sciences · 2020
    Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Hans K BiesalskiDepartment of Biological Chemistry and Nutritional Science, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 28, D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany. biesal@uni-hohenheim.de
Tilman Grune
Jana Tinz
Iris Zöllner
Jeffrey B Blumberg

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A recent meta-analysis of selected randomized clinical trials (RCTs), in which population groups of differing ages and health status were supplemented with various doses of β-carotene, vitamin A, and/or vitamin E, found that these interventions increased all-cause mortality. However, this meta-analysis did not consider the rationale of the constituent RCTs for antioxidant supplementation, none of which included mortality as a primary outcome. As the rationale for these trials was to test the hypothesis of a potential benefit of antioxidant supplementation, an alternative approach to a systematic evaluation of these RCTs would be to evaluate this outcome relative to the putative risk of greater total mortality. Thus, we examined these data based on the primary outcome of the 66 RCTs included in the meta-analysis via a decision analysis to identify whether the results provided a positive (i.e., benefit), null or negative (i.e., harm) outcome. Our evaluation indicated that of these RCTs, 24 had a positive outcome, 39 had a null outcome, and 3 had a negative outcome. We further categorized these interventions as primary (risk reduction in healthy populations) or secondary (slowing pathogenesis or preventing recurrent events and/or cause-specific mortality) prevention or therapeutic (treatment to improve quality of life, limit complications, and/or provide rehabilitation) studies, and determined positive outcomes in 8 of 20 primary prevention studies, 10 of 34 secondary prevention studies, and 6 out of 16 therapeutic studies. Seven of the eight RCTs with a positive outcome in primary prevention included participants in a population where malnutrition is frequently described. These results suggest that analyses of potential risks from antioxidant supplementation should be placed in the context of a benefit/risk ratio.

Indexed as

Health StatusMortalityTreatment OutcomeAntioxidantsbeta CaroteneDietary SupplementsHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRisk AssessmentVitamin AVitamin EAntioxidantsbeta CaroteneVitamin AVitamin Eantioxidantsbenefit/riskmeta-analysismortalitysupplementation

Identifiers

PMID22254063
PMCPMC3257709

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.