Trial reportBMC gastroenterology2012
Spirulina platensis versus silymarin in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. A pilot randomized, comparative clinical trial.
Trial report in BMC gastroenterology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04718831 (Spirulina), which is not on this map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 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.
Spirulina (FEM-102) Supplement to Chronic Hepatitis B Patients With High Levels of Quantitative Hepatitis B Surface Antigen
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of silymarin on biochemical indicators in patients with liver disease: Systematic review with meta-analysis.World journal of gastroenterology · 2017Pooled it
- Effects and tolerance of silymarin (milk thistle) in chronic hepatitis C virus infection patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BioMed research international · 2014Pooled it
- Enhancing immunity in viral infections, with special emphasis on COVID-19: A review.Diabetes & metabolic syndromePooled it
- Trial
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- Efficacy and safety of a herbal mixture (Viron® tablets) in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: a prospective, randomized, open-label, proof-of-concept study.Drug design, development and therapy · 2015Trial
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- Oceanic Breakthroughs: Marine-Derived Innovations in Vaccination, Therapy, and Immune Health.Vaccines · 2024Review
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- The favorable impacts of silibinin polyphenols as adjunctive therapy in reducing the complications of COVID-19: A review of research evidence and underlying mechanisms.Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2022Review
- Therapeutic mechanisms and beneficial effects of non-antidiabetic drugs in chronic liver diseases.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2022Review
- Review
- Evaluation of Microalgae Antiviral Activity and Their Bioactive Compounds.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Docking andJournal of applied phycology · 2021Article
- Edible Cyanobacterial GenusFrontiers in microbiology · 2017Review
- Evaluation of Spirulina platensis extract as natural antivirus against foot and mouth disease virus strains (A, O, SAT2).Veterinary world · 2015Article
- The hepatoprotective and hypolipidemic effects of Spirulina (Annals of gastroenterology · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSpirulina platensis, a cynobacterium used frequently as a dietary supplement had been found to exhibit many immune-stimulating and antiviral activities. It had been found to activate macrophages, NK cells, T cells, B cells, and to stimulate the production of Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and other cytokines. Natural substances isolated from Spirulina platensis had been found to be potent inhibitors against several enveloped viruses by blocking viral absorption/penetration and some replication stages of progeny viruses after penetration into cells. We aimed to study whether this dietary supplement possesses any therapeutically feasible activity worthy of further larger controlled clinical evaluation.
methodsSixty six patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and eligible for inclusion had been randomized to either Spirulina or Silymarin treated groups for a period of six months treatment.The two groups were followed up and blindly compared for early (after 3 months) and end of 6 months treatment virological response. The effects of both treatments on each of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire scores (CLDQ), Arizona Sexual Experience Scale scores (ASEX) and the occurrence of any attributable adverse events were also compared.
resultsAmong the 30 patients who had been treated with Spirulina and completed the 6 months protocol, 4 patients (13.3%) had a complete end of treatment virological response and 2 patients (6.7%) had a partial end of treatment response defined as significant decrease of virus load of at least 2-logs10. Though the proportion of responders in Spirulina group was greater than in the Silymarin group, the difference was not statistically significant at the end of both 6 months (p = 0.12) and 3 months treatment (p = 0.22) by Exact test. Alanine aminotransferase as well as CLDQ and ASEX scores were found to be more significantly improved in Spirulina than in Silymarin treated group.
conclusionsOur results could suggest a therapeutically feasible potential for Spirulina platensis in chronic HCV patients, worthy to conduct a larger sized and longer study to confirm these safety and efficacy encouraging results.
trial registrationWHO Clinical Trial Registration ID: ACTRN12610000958088http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/trial.aspx?trialid=ACTRN12610000958088.
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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.