SynthesisMedicine2016
Efficacy of N-Acetylcysteine in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of N-acetylcysteine plus pirfenidone in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluation of oxidative stress biomarkers in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and therapeutic applications: a systematic review.Respiratory research · 2018Pooled it
- The Mechanism of Oxidative Stress in Pulmonary Fibrosis and Research Progress.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Repurposing landscape of N-acetylcysteine: A scoping review of reviews toward clinical translation.PloS one · 2026Article
- N-acetylcysteine: evidence based consensus document on the therapeutic advantages in respiratory diseases (NECTAR).Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Revisiting Circulating Extracellular Matrix Fragments as Disease Markers in Myelofibrosis and Related Neoplasms.Cancers · 2023Review
- The effects of N-acetylcysteine on hepatic, hematologic, and renal parameters in cirrhotic patients: a randomized controlled trial.Gastroenterology and hepatology from bed to bench · 2023Article
- Development of antifibrotic therapy for stricturing Crohn's disease: lessons from randomized trials in other fibrotic diseases.Physiological reviews · 2022Review
- Review
- Oxidative Stress and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Rare Respiratory Diseases.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- New Insights into the Implication of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Tissue, Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells, and Platelets during Lung Diseases.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Targeting Neutrophils to Treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Coronavirus Disease.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Review
- N-acetylcysteine and coronavirus disease 2019: May it work as a beneficial preventive and adjuvant therapy? A comprehensive review study.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2020Review
- The impact of alcohol use disorders on pulmonary immune cell inflammatory responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2019Article
- The Role of HMGB1, a Nuclear Damage-Associated Molecular Pattern Molecule, in the Pathogenesis of Lung Diseases.Antioxidants & redox signaling · 2019Review
- Thiol-Redox Regulation in Lung Development and Vascular Remodeling.Antioxidants & redox signaling · 2019Review
- Efficacy and safety ofExperimental and therapeutic medicine · 2019Article
- Oxidative stress induces club cell proliferation and pulmonary fibrosis in Atp8b1 mutant mice.Aging · 2019Article
- Chinese Herbal Medicines Compared with N-Acetylcysteine for the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Review
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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There are a number of conflicting reports describing the clinical outcomes of using N-acetylcysteine for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. We have, therefore, performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine, compared with control, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Original controlled clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis were included in the analysis. Searches for relevant articles were carried out in July 2014 by 2 independent researchers using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar. Change in forced vital capacity, change in percentage of predicted vital capacity, change in percentage of predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, changes in 6 minutes walking test distance, rate of adverse events, and rate of death were expressed as outcomes using RevMan 5.0.1.Five trials, with a total of 564 patients, were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that the control group had significant decreases in percentage of predicted vital capacity (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13 to -0.62; P = 0.003) and 6 minutes walking test distance (SMD = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.02-0.48; P = 0.04). There were no statistically significant differences in forced vital capacity (SMD = 0.07; 95% CI: -0.13-0.27; P = 0.52), percentage of predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (SMD = 0.12; 95% CI: -0.06-0.30; P = 0.18), rates of adverse events (odd ratio = 4.50; 95% CI: 0.19-106.41; P = 0.35), or death rates (odd ratio = 1.79; 95% CI: 0.3-5.12; P = 0.28) between the N-acetylcysteine group and the control group.N-Acetylcysteine was found to have a significant effect only on decreases in percentage of predicted vital capacity and 6 minutes walking test distance. N-acetylcysteine showed no beneficial effect on changes in forced vital capacity, changes in predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, rates of adverse events, or death rates.
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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.