Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27826212›Full record

ArticleJournal of pain research2016

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial to determine the efficacy and safety of ibudilast, a potential glial attenuator, in chronic migraine.

Yuen H Kwok, James E Swift, Parisa Gazerani, Paul Rolan

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of pain research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04631471 (Regeneration in Cervical Degenerative Myelopathy - a Multi-centre, Double-blind, Randomised, Placebo Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Ibudilast as an Adjuvant Treatment to Decompressive Surgery for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy), which is not on this map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 10% 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.

NCT04631471 phase3recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Regeneration in Cervical Degenerative Myelopathy - a Multi-centre, Double-blind, Randomised, Placebo Controlled Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Ibudilast as an Adjuvant Treatment to Decompressive Surgery for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy

TypeinterventionalSponsorCambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustRan2021 to 2026Enrolled400ConditionsMyelopathy, Spinal Cord DiseasesArmsIbudilast, Cervical decompressive surgery, Matching placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Evidence for brain glial activity in chronic migraine patients: a [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Glia and Orofacial Pain: Progress and Future Directions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  15. Migraine: Calcium Channels and Glia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review
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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Yuen H KwokDiscipline of Pharmacology, University of Adelaide, Level 5 Medical School North, South Australia, Australia.
James E SwiftDiscipline of Pharmacology, University of Adelaide, Level 5 Medical School North, South Australia, Australia.
Parisa GazeraniDepartment of Health Science & Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
Paul RolanDiscipline of Pharmacology, University of Adelaide, Level 5 Medical School North, South Australia, Australia.
University of Adelaide · AUAalborg University · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic migraine (CM) is problematic, and there are few effective treatments. Recently, it has been hypothesized that glial activation may be a contributor to migraine; therefore, this study investigated whether the potential glial inhibitor, ibudilast, could attenuate CM.

methodsThe study was of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, two-period crossover design. Participants were randomized to receive either ibudilast (40 mg twice daily) or placebo treatment for 8 weeks. Subsequently, the participants underwent a 4-week washout period followed by a second 8-week treatment block with the alternative treatment. CM participants completed a headache diary 4 weeks before randomization throughout both treatment periods and 4 weeks after treatment. Questionnaires assessing quality of life and cutaneous allodynia were collected on eight occasions throughout the study.

resultsA total of 33 participants were randomized, and 14 participants completed the study. Ibudilast was generally well tolerated with mild, transient adverse events, principally nausea. Eight weeks of ibudilast treatment did not reduce the frequency of moderate to severe headache or of secondary outcome measures such as headache index, intake of symptomatic medications, quality of life or change in cutaneous allodynia.

conclusionUsing the current regimen, ibudilast does not improve migraine with CM participants.

Indexed as

chronic migrainegliaheadacheibudilastimmune system

Identifiers

PMID27826212
PMCPMC5096778
OpenAlexW2542746912

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.