Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22363213›Full record

SynthesisPLoS medicine2012

Homocysteine and coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of MTHFR case-control studies, avoiding publication bias.

Robert Clarke, Derrick A Bennett, Sarah Parish, Petra Verhoef, Mariska Dötsch-Klerk, Mark Lathrop, Peng Xu, Børge G Nordestgaard, Hilma Holm, Jemma C Hopewell and 22 more

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PLoS medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
80citing papers in PubMed, 8 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

80 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A Meta-Prediction ofInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2018
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  16. Association between homocysteine and coronary artery disease-trend over time and across the regions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Egyptian heart journal : (EHJ) : official bulletin of the Egyptian Society of Cardiology · 2024
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20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

32 authors.

Robert ClarkeClinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Robert.Clarke@ctsu.ox.ac.uk
Derrick A Bennett
Sarah Parish
Petra Verhoef
Mariska Dötsch-Klerk
Mark Lathrop
Peng Xu
Børge G Nordestgaard
Hilma Holm
Jemma C Hopewell
Danish Saleheen
Toshihiro Tanaka
Sonia S Anand
John C Chambers
Marcus E Kleber
Willem H Ouwehand
Yoshiji Yamada
Clara Elbers
Bas Peters
Alexandre F R Stewart
Muredach M Reilly
Barbara Thorand
Salim Yusuf
James C Engert
Themistocles L Assimes
Jaspal Kooner
John Danesh
Hugh Watkins
Nilesh J Samani
Rory Collins
Richard Peto
MTHFR Studies Collaborative Group

Funding

British Heart Foundation PG/12/32/29544British Heart Foundation RG/08/014/24067Medical Research Council G0601966Medical Research Council G0700931Medical Research Council MC_U137686857Wellcome Trust 090532
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundModerately elevated blood levels of homocysteine are weakly correlated with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, but causality remains uncertain. When folate levels are low, the TT genotype of the common C677T polymorphism (rs1801133) of the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR) appreciably increases homocysteine levels, so "Mendelian randomization" studies using this variant as an instrumental variable could help test causality. METHODS AND

findingsNineteen unpublished datasets were obtained (total 48,175 CHD cases and 67,961 controls) in which multiple genetic variants had been measured, including MTHFR C677T. These datasets did not include measurements of blood homocysteine, but homocysteine levels would be expected to be about 20% higher with TT than with CC genotype in the populations studied. In meta-analyses of these unpublished datasets, the case-control CHD odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI comparing TT versus CC homozygotes was 1.02 (0.98-1.07; p = 0.28) overall, and 1.01 (0.95-1.07) in unsupplemented low-folate populations. By contrast, in a slightly updated meta-analysis of the 86 published studies (28,617 CHD cases and 41,857 controls), the OR was 1.15 (1.09-1.21), significantly discrepant (p = 0.001) with the OR in the unpublished datasets. Within the meta-analysis of published studies, the OR was 1.12 (1.04-1.21) in the 14 larger studies (those with variance of log OR<0.05; total 13,119 cases) and 1.18 (1.09-1.28) in the 72 smaller ones (total 15,498 cases).

conclusionsThe CI for the overall result from large unpublished datasets shows lifelong moderate homocysteine elevation has little or no effect on CHD. The discrepant overall result from previously published studies reflects publication bias or methodological problems.

Indexed as

Polymorphism, GeneticBiasCoronary DiseaseFolic AcidGenotypeHomocysteineHumansMethylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2)Risk FactorsFolic AcidHomocysteineMethylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2)

Identifiers

PMID22363213
PMCPMC3283559

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.