Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25656984›Full record

ArticlePharmacoepidemiology and drug safety2015

Safety of valproic acid in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a population-based cohort study.

Tony Antoniou, Zhan Yao, Ximena Camacho, Muhammad M Mamdani, David N Juurlink, Tara Gomes

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 45% of its field
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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Tony AntoniouDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada; Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada; University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada.
Zhan Yao
Ximena Camacho
Muhammad M Mamdani
David N Juurlink
Tara Gomes
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences · CASt. Michael's Hospital · CASunnybrook Hospital · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeValproic acid is an anticonvulsant that also inhibits histone deacetylase (HDAC), a property that could worsen pulmonary function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The clinical significance of this property is unknown. We therefore compared the risk of COPD exacerbation in older patients with COPD commencing treatment with either valproic acid or phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that does not affect HDAC.

methodsWe conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study of Ontario residents with COPD aged 66 years or older who started treatment with valproic acid or phenytoin between 1 April 1993 and 30 November 2012. The primary outcome was a hospital admission or emergency department visit for a COPD exacerbation within 240 days of drug initiation. A secondary outcome examined initiation of oral corticosteroids in the outpatient setting.

resultsDuring the study period, we identified 4596 COPD patients who commenced valproic acid and 8478 who commenced phenytoin. Following multivariable adjustment, valproic acid did not increase the risk of the primary outcome (adjusted hazard ratio 1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.79 to 1.26). Although valproic acid was associated with a lower risk of initiating oral corticosteroids in the first thirty days following commencement of anticonvulsant therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0.32; 95% confidence interval 0.21 to 0.49), no difference was observed during subsequent follow-up.

conclusionAmong older patients with COPD, treatment with valproic acid does not increase the risk of adverse pulmonary outcomes relative to phenytoin. These findings suggest that valproate-induced HDAC inhibition is of little clinical relevance in this context.

Indexed as

Population SurveillanceAgedAged, 80 and overAnticonvulsantsCohort StudiesFemaleHospitalizationHumansMalePulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveRetrospective StudiesValproic AcidAnticonvulsantsValproic Acidchronic obstructive pulmonary diseasehistone deacetylasepharmacoepidemiologypropensity scorevalproic acid

Identifiers

PMID25656984
PMCPMC4497617
OpenAlexW1531475102

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.