Trial reportNutrients2016
Elderberry Supplementation Reduces Cold Duration and Symptoms in Air-Travellers: A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Nutrients, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 111 citations in OpenAlex.
- Select Dietary Supplement Ingredients for Preserving and Protecting the Immune System in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Elderberry for prevention and treatment of viral respiratory illnesses: a systematic review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy of Functional Foods, Beverages, and Supplements Claiming to Alleviate Air Travel Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Enhancing immunity in viral infections, with special emphasis on COVID-19: A review.Diabetes & metabolic syndromePooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Phytocompounds with immunomodulatory activities: mechanisms, therapeutic potential, and clinical prospects.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- A Review of the Properties of Clinically Evaluated Plant-Derived Agents in the Treatment of Respiratory Infections.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Article
- Comparative effectiveness of oral nutritional supplements in preventing respiratory tract infections among adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Synergistic Antiviral Activity of European Black Elderberry Fruit Extract and Quinine Against SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A Virusa.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Are the Effects of Bioactive Components on Human Health a Myth?: Black Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) from Exotic Fruits.Current nutrition reports · 2024Review
- Elderberry interaction with pazopanib in a patient with soft‑tissue sarcoma: A case report and literature review.Molecular and clinical oncology · 2024Article
- A systems biology-based mathematical model demonstrates the potential anti-stress effectiveness of a multi-nutrient botanical formulation.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Fruits of Wild-Grown Shrubs for Health Nutrition.Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2024Review
- A standardized combination ofFood & nutrition research · 2024Article
- Association of low physical activity with higher respiratory tract infections frequency among pre-school children.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Elderberry diet improves gut-brain axis dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and cognitive impairment in the rat model of irritable bowel syndrome.Metabolic brain disease · 2023Article
- Article
- Elderberry Extracts: Characterization of the Polyphenolic Chemical Composition, Quality Consistency, Safety, Adulteration, and Attenuation of Oxidative Stress- and Inflammation-Induced Health Disorders.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Intercontinental air travel can be stressful, especially for respiratory health. Elderberries have been used traditionally, and in some observational and clinical studies, as supportive agents against the common cold and influenza. This randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial of 312 economy class passengers travelling from Australia to an overseas destination aimed to investigate if a standardised membrane filtered elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) extract has beneficial effects on physical, especially respiratory, and mental health. Cold episodes, cold duration and symptoms were noted in a daily diary and assessed using the Jackson score. Participants also completed three surveys containing questions regarding upper respiratory symptoms (WURSS-21) and quality of life (SF-12) at baseline, just before travel and at 4-days after travel. Most cold episodes occurred in the placebo group (17 vs. 12), however the difference was not significant (p = 0.4). Placebo group participants had a significantly longer duration of cold episode days (117 vs. 57, p = 0.02) and the average symptom score over these days was also significantly higher (583 vs. 247, p = 0.05). These data suggest a significant reduction of cold duration and severity in air travelers. More research is warranted to confirm this effect and to evaluate elderberry's physical and mental health benefits.
Indexed as
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.