ArticleBMJ open2017
Biological rationale and potential clinical use of gabapentin and pregabalin in bipolar disorder, insomnia and anxiety: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gabapentinoid Use and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies.Drugs & aging · 2026Pooled it
- Gabapentin and pregabalin in bipolar disorder, anxiety states, and insomnia: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and rationale.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Cellular calcium in bipolar disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Use of Gabapentin in the Treatment of Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Exploratory study of heart rate variability among participants with opioid use disorder inducted on gabapentin versus placebo during outpatient buprenorphine-assisted transition to injection naltrexone.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, multimodal-MRI pilot study of gabapentin for co-occurring bipolar and cannabis use disorders.Addiction biology · 2022Trial
- Efficacy and safety of HSK16149 for postoperative pain in Chinese patients after orthopedic surgery: a phase 2 randomized clinical trial.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2026Article
- Off-label and investigational drugs in the treatment of gambling disorder: a critical review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Article
- Chronic Nodular Prurigo: An Update on the Pathogenesis and Treatment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- The potential mechanism of Bupleurum against anxiety was predicted by network pharmacology study and molecular docking.Metabolic brain disease · 2022Article
- Effects of tai chi and qigong on rehabilitation after COVID-19: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2022Article
- HPLC Analytical Method Development and Validation of Gabapentin through Chemical Derivatization with Catechol as a Chromophore.International journal of analytical chemistry · 2022Article
- A Systematic Review of the Clinical Use of Gabapentin and Pregabalin in Bipolar Disorder.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Effect of Acupuncture on Cognitive Function of Insomnia Patients Compared with Drugs: A Protocol for Meta-analysis and Systematic Review.Behavioural neurology · 2021Article
- Pregabalin inhibits in vivo and in vitro cytokine secretion and attenuates spleen inflammation in Lipopolysaccharide/Concanavalin A -induced murine models of inflammation.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Paradoxical effects of continuous high dose gabapentin treatment on autonomic dysreflexia after complete spinal cord injury.Experimental neurology · 2020Article
- Feline hyperaesthesia syndrome with self-trauma to the tail: retrospective study of seven cases and proposal for an integrated multidisciplinary diagnostic approach.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2019Article
- The vicious cycle of itch and anxiety.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2018Review
- The Emerging Neurobiology of Bipolar Disorder.Trends in neurosciences · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionGabapentin has been extensively prescribed off-label for psychiatric indications, with little established evidence of efficacy. Gabapentin and pregabalin, a very similar drug with the same mechanism of action, bind to a subunit of voltage-dependent calcium channels which are implicated in the aetiopathogenesis of bipolar disorder, anxiety and insomnia. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to collect and critically appraise all the available evidence about the efficacy and tolerability of gabapentin and pregabalin in the treatment of bipolar disorder, insomnia and anxiety. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will include all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) reported as double-blind and comparing gabapentin or pregabalin with placebo or any other active pharmacological treatment (any preparation, dose, frequency, route of delivery or setting) in patients with bipolar disorder, anxiety or insomnia. For consideration of adverse effects (tolerability), single-blind or open-label RCTs and non-randomised evidence will also be summarised. The main outcomes will be efficacy (measured as dichotomous and continuous outcome) and acceptability (proportion of patients who dropped out of the allocated treatment). Published and unpublished studies will be sought through relevant database searches, trial registries and websites; all reference selection and data extraction will be conducted by at least 2 independent reviewers. We will conduct a random-effects meta-analysis to synthesise all evidence for each outcome. Heterogeneity between studies will be investigated by the I ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This review does not require ethical approval. This protocol has been registered on PROSPERO (CRD42016041802). The results of the systematic review will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
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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.