Trial reportRespiratory research2015
A pilot randomized controlled trial of pioglitazone for the treatment of poorly controlled asthma in obesity.
Trial report in Respiratory research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00634036 (A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Pioglitazone for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Asthma in Obese Asthmatics), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 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.
A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Pioglitazone for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Asthma in Obese Asthmatics
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metabolic dysfunction, antidiabetic drugs, and asthma: bibliometric evidence, emerging trends, and translational frontiers from 2006 to 2025.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Gut Microbiome and Metabolome Alterations in Overweight or Obese Adult Population after Weight-LossInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Trial
- A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, crossover trial of pioglitazone for severe asthma.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2017Trial
- Evaluation of the PPAR-γ Agonist Pioglitazone in Mild Asthma: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Type 2 Diabetes and the Lung - Cause and Consequence.Current diabetes reports · 2026Review
- The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System in Asthma: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Possibilities.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2025Review
- Non-T2 asthma.Current opinion in pulmonary medicine · 2025Review
- The role of type 2 diabetes in the severity of adult asthma.Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology · 2025Review
- Diabetes-inducing effects of bronchial asthma.World journal of diabetes · 2025Article
- Obesity-related Asthma: A Pathobiology-based Overview of Existing and Emerging Treatment Approaches.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2024Review
- A clinician's guide to effects of obesity on childhood asthma and into adulthood.Expert review of respiratory medicine · 2024Review
- Asthma and Hyperglycemia: Exploring the Interconnected Pathways.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Elafibranor PPARα/δ Dual Agonist Ameliorates Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Asthma.Biomolecules & therapeutics · 2024Article
- Unraveling the Link between Ιnsulin Resistance and Bronchial Asthma.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Mechanistic Links Between Obesity and Airway Pathobiology Inform Therapies for Obesity-Related Asthma.Paediatric drugs · 2023Review
- Utility of Hypoglycemic Agents to Treat Asthma with Comorbid Obesity.Pulmonary therapy · 2023Review
- Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Asthma: Pathomechanisms of Their Association and Clinical Implications.Cureus · 2023Review
- Metabolic Contributions to Pathobiology of Asthma.Metabolites · 2023Review
- High Insulin in Early Childhood Is Associated with Subsequent Asthma Risk Independent of Body Mass Index.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2022Article
- Pioglitazone prevents obesity-related airway hyperreactivity and neuronal MAmerican journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundObese asthmatics tend to have poorly controlled asthma, and resistance to standard asthma controller medications. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of pioglitazone, an anti-diabetic medication which can alter circulating adipokines and have direct effects on asthmatic inflammation, in the treatment of asthma in obesity.
methodsA two-center, 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial. Treatments were randomly assigned with concealment of allocation. The primary outcome was difference in change in airway reactivity between participants assigned to pioglitazone versus placebo at 12 weeks.
resultsTwenty-three participants were randomized to treatment, 19 completed the study. Median airway reactivity, measured by PC20 to methacholine was 1.99 (IQR 3.08) and 1.60 (5.91) mg/ml in placebo and pioglitazone group at baseline, and 2.37 (15.22) and 5.08 (7.42) mg/ml after 12 weeks, p = 0.38. There was no difference in exhaled nitric oxide, asthma control or lung function between treatment groups over the 12 week trial. Participants assigned to pioglitazone gained a significant amount more weight than those assigned to placebo (pioglitazone group mean weight 113.6, CI 94.5-132.7 kg at randomization and 115.9, CI 96.9-135.1 at 12 weeks; placebo mean weight 127.5, CI 108.4 - 146.6 kg at randomization and 124.5, CI 105.4 - 143.6 kg at 12 weeks; p = 0.04).
conclusionsThis pilot study suggests limited efficacy for pioglitazone in the treatment of poorly controlled asthma in obesity, and also the potential for harm, given the weight gain in those assigned to active treatment, and the association between increased weight and worse outcomes in asthma.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov (NCT00634036).
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.