Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29035128›Full record

Trial reportOphthalmic epidemiology2018

Prospective study of plasma homocysteine, its dietary determinants, and risk of age-related macular degeneration in men.

William G Christen, Nancy R Cook, Stephanie E Chiuve, Paul M Ridker, J Michael Gaziano

Abstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Ophthalmic epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 24% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. B Vitamins and Ocular Health.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
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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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

William G Christena The Division of Preventive Medicine , Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA, USA.
Nancy R Cooka The Division of Preventive Medicine , Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA, USA.
Stephanie E Chiuvea The Division of Preventive Medicine , Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA, USA.
Paul M Ridkera The Division of Preventive Medicine , Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA, USA.
J Michael Gazianoa The Division of Preventive Medicine , Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA, USA.
Brigham and Women's Hospital · USHarvard University · US

Funding

Physicians' Health Study II: Prevention Trial of VitaminsR01CA097193 · NCI · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI GAZIANO, J. MICHAEL · 2002 to 2011
$15.7M
Folic Acid, B-Vitamins and AMD: Blood and Diet-based StudiesR01EY018820 · NEI · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI CHRISTEN, WILLIAM G · 2009 to 2012
$921k
RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF ASPIRIN AND MORTALITYR01CA040360 · NCI · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI BURING, JULIE E · 1985 to 2002
$775k
TRIAL OF ASPIRIN AND BETA-CAROTENE IN U S MD'SR01HL034595 · NHLBI · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI BURING, JULIE E · 1985 to 1991
–
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA034944NCI NIH HHS R01 CA040360NCI NIH HHS R01 CA097193NEI NIH HHS R01 EY018820NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL026490NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL034595
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeCross-sectional and case-control studies generally support a direct association between elevated plasma homocysteine and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but data from prospective studies are limited. We examined the prospective relation of plasma homocysteine level, its dietary determinants, and risk of AMD in a large cohort of apparently healthy male physicians.

methodsDuring a mean follow-up of 11.2 years, we identified 146 incident cases of visually significant AMD (responsible for a reduction of visual acuity to 20/30 or worse), and 146 controls matched for age, smoking status, and time of blood draw. We measured concentration of homocysteine in blood samples collected at baseline using an enzymatic assay. and we assessed dietary intake of B vitamins and related compounds betaine and choline with a food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline.

resultsAMD was not associated with plasma level of homocysteine; the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of AMD comparing the highest and lowest quartile of homocysteine was 1.09 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.52-2.31; p for trend = 0.99). However, AMD was inversely associated with quartile of intake of total folate (OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.24-1.23; p for trend = 0.08), vitamin B

conclusionsThese prospective data from a cohort of apparently healthy men do not support a major role for homocysteine in AMD occurrence, but do suggest a possible beneficial role for higher intake of several nutrients involved in homocysteine metabolism.

Indexed as

Dietary SupplementsForecastingAgedBiomarkersCross-Sectional StudiesDietDouble-Blind MethodFollow-Up StudiesHomocysteineHumansIncidenceMacular DegenerationMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesReference ValuesBiomarkersHomocysteineVitaminsage-related macular degenerationcase–controldietHomocysteine

Identifiers

PMID29035128
PMCPMC6204217
OpenAlexW2766396955

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.