Trial reportDrugs in R&D2014
α-Lipoic acid and superoxide dismutase in the management of chronic neck pain: a prospective randomized study.
Trial report in Drugs in R&D, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and network meta-analysis of the effects of bioactive compounds on pain intensity and quality of life in neuropathic pain patients.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Combined Rehabilitation with Alpha Lipoic Acid, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, Resveratrol, and Cholecalciferolin Discogenic Sciatica in Young People: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Trial
- Effect of α-lipoic acid on symptoms and quality of life in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy.The Journal of international medical research · 2018Trial
- R-α-Lipoic Acid Attenuates Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Injury by Reducing Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Mitochondrial Damage in Mice.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Article
- Pharmacological interventions for patients with chronic primary musculoskeletal pain: disparity between synthesized evidence and real-world clinical practice.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Alpha-Lipoic Acid: Biological Mechanisms and Health Benefits.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Between guidelines and clinical trials: evidence-based advice on the pharmacological management of non-specific chronic low back pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Review
- Natural Molecules and Neuroprotection: Kynurenic Acid, Pantethine and α-Lipoic Acid.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- The Effect of 600 mg Alpha-lipoic Acid Supplementation on Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and RAGE in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2019Article
- Incorporating Natural Products, Pharmaceutical Drugs, Self-Care and Digital/Mobile Health Technologies into Molecular-Behavioral Combination Therapies for Chronic Diseases.Current clinical pharmacology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveSince oxidative stress plays a pathogenetic role in chronic neck pain (CNP), we investigated whether a combination of α-lipoic acid (ALA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) might improve pain control and the efficacy of physiotherapy ("multimodal therapy") in patients with CNP.
settingThis study was conducted in the Rehabilitation Unit of the Department of Surgical and Oncological Sciences at the University Policlinic in Palermo, Italy. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: This was a prospective, randomized, open study in outpatients.
interventionPatients randomly received either physiotherapy alone (group 2; n = 45) or a combination of ALA 600 mg and SOD 140 IU daily in addition to physiotherapy (group 1; n = 51), for 60 days. Pain was assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a modified Neck Pain Questionnaire (mNPQ). Treatment compliance and safety were also evaluated.
resultsBoth groups experienced a significant reduction in the VAS and mNPQ scores after 1 month; however, while no further improvement was observed in group 2 at 60 days, group 1 showed a further VAS reduction (p < 0.001). In addition, in the mNPQ at 60 days, more patients in group 1 than in group 2 reported that their neck pain was improved (p < 0.01), and they showed greater compliance with prescribed physiotherapy (p = 0.048). No drug reaction was observed.
conclusionUse of ALA/SOD in combination with physiotherapy may be a useful approach to CNP, being antioxidants that act on nerve inflammation and disease progression. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: These preliminary observations suggest that some interesting goals (better pain control and physical wellbeing) can be achieved by multimodal therapy in CNP patients.
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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.