SynthesisMedicine2018
Whole grain diet reduces systemic inflammation: A meta-analysis of 9 randomized trials.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of Oats (Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- The Effect of Whole-Grain Intake on Biomarkers of Subclinical Inflammation: A Comprehensive Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- Metabolite Biomarkers Linking a High-Fiber Rye Intervention with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: The RyeWeight Study.Journal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Anti-inflammatory Diet Before Diagnosis and Survival After Urologic Cancer: Findings from Two Swedish Prospective Cohorts.European urology open science · 2026Article
- Article
- Dietary Clusters and Mortality Risk in a Chinese Population: The Role of Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Whole and refined grains consumption and social interaction in children: a cross-sectional study.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Reduced Neuroinflammation and Pain with a Functional Sourdough Bread Enriched with Legumes and Ancient Cereals in a Mouse Model of LPS-Induced Inflammation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Dietary fiber enhances the intestinal profile of beneficial commensal Bacteroides acidifaciens and modulates bile acid metabolism in T2DM mice.Antonie van Leeuwenhoek · 2026Article
- Dietary Interventions for Sleep Health: Multi-Population and Mendelian Randomization Evidence on Sleep Outcomes and Disorders.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Should Grain-Based Staple Foods Be Included in Admonitions to "Avoid Processed and Ultra-Processed Food"?Nutrients · 2025Review
- Impact of Dietary Fiber on Inflammation in Humans.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Food group intakes and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein among community-dwelling Japanese adults: a cross-sectional study.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Cereal-Derived Water-Unextractable Arabinoxylans: Structure Feature, Effects on Baking Products and Human Health.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Composition of Whole Grain Dietary Fiber and Phenolics and Their Impact on Markers of Inflammation.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Immunomodulation and immunopharmacology in heart failure.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2024Review
- Causal relationship between modifiable risk factors and knee osteoarthritis: a Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- The role of diet in multiple sclerosis onset and course: results from a nationwide retrospective birth-year cohort.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2023Article
- Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern Scores Are Not Associated with Worse Cognitive Performance in the Nurses' Health Study.The Journal of nutrition · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundsObservational studies had suggested an inverse association between whole grain consumption and concentration of inflammatory markers, but evidence from interventional studies was inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized trials to have a better understanding of this issue.
methodsThis study has been registered in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42018096533). We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane Library for articles focusing on the topic from inception to 1 January, 2018. Summary standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by using either random effect model or fixed effect model according to the heterogeneity of included studies. Subgroup analysis was also performed.
resultsTotally 9 randomized trials included 838 participants were identified. In a pooled analysis of all studies, consumption of whole grains had an inverse association with inflammatory markers (SMD 0.16, 95% CI, 0.02-0.30), including C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Specific analyses for CRP and IL-6 yielded that whole grain diet was related with a significant decrease in the concentration of CRP (SMD 0.29, 95% CI, 0.08-0.50) and IL-6 (SMD 0.19, 95% CI, 0.03-0.36).
conclusionsThe evidence suggested that citizens could benefit from increased whole grain intake for reducing systemic inflammation. Further well-designed studies are required to investigate the mechanism under the appearance.
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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.