Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32317658›Full record

Trial reportScientific reports2020

The insufficiency of circulating miRNA and DNA as diagnostic tools or as biomarkers of treatment efficacy for Onchocerca volvulus.

Cara L Macfarlane, Shannon Quek, Nicolas Pionnier, Joseph D Turner, Samuel Wanji, Simon C Wagstaff, Mark J Taylor

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. 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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Cara L MacfarlaneCentre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Shannon QuekCentre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Nicolas PionnierCentre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Joseph D TurnerCentre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Samuel WanjiResearch Foundation for Tropical Diseases and the Environment (REFOTDE) and Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
Simon C WagstaffCentre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Mark J TaylorCentre for Drugs and Diagnostics, Department of Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom. mark.taylor@lstmed.ac.uk.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine · GBUniversity of Buea · CM

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Skin snip evaluation for onchocerciasis has insufficient sensitivity when skin microfilarial (mf) densities are low, such as following ivermectin treatment. Mf density is suitable for assessing microfilaricidal efficacy but only serves as an indirect indicator of macrofilaricidal activity. We assessed circulating nucleic acids from Onchocerca volvulus as an alternative to skin snips. We screened a plasma sample set of infected individuals followed up at four, 12 and 21 months after microfilaricidal (ivermectin, n = four), macrofilaricidal (doxycycline, n = nine), or combination treatment (n = five). Two parasite-derived miRNAs, cel-miR-71-5p and bma-lin-4, and O-150 repeat DNA were assessed. Highly abundant DNA repeat families identified in the O. volvulus genome were also evaluated. miRNAs were detected in two of 72 plasma samples (2.8%) and two of 47 samples (4.3%) with microfilaridermia using RT-qPCR. O-150 DNA was detected in eight (44.4%) baseline samples by qPCR and the number of positives declined post-treatment. One doxycycline-treated individual remained O-150 positive. However, only 11 (23.4%) samples with microfilaridermia were qPCR-positive. Analysis by qPCR showed novel DNA repeat families were comparatively less abundant than the O-150 repeat. Circulating parasite-derived nucleic acids are therefore insufficient as diagnostic tools or as biomarkers of treatment efficacy for O. volvulus.

Indexed as

AdultAnimalsBiomarkersCirculating MicroRNADNAHumansMaleOnchocerca volvulusOnchocerciasisParasitesTreatment OutcomeBiomarkersCirculating MicroRNADNA

Identifiers

PMID32317658
PMCPMC7174290
OpenAlexW3017073630

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.