Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33322069›Full record

ReviewJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland)2020

β-Glucan Metabolic and Immunomodulatory Properties and Potential for Clinical Application.

Emma J Murphy, Emanuele Rezoagli, Ian Major, Neil J Rowan, John G Laffey

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
95citing papers in PubMed
21.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

95 citing papers in PubMed, 206 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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  5. A β‑1,3‑1,6‑glucan fromMolecular medicine reports · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
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  18. Lactobacilli and gut pH: features of correlation in model experiments.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2025
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Sublingual Dripping Pill Formulation ofCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2025
    Article

35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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 2 countries.

Emma J MurphyBioscience Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, N37 HD68 Athlone, Ireland.
Emanuele RezoagliBioscience Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, N37 HD68 Athlone, Ireland.
Ian MajorMaterials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, N37 HD68 Athlone, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0002-0538-9786
Neil J RowanBioscience Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, N37 HD68 Athlone, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0003-1228-3733
John G LaffeyLung Biology Group, Regenerative Medicine Institute at CURAM Centre for Medical Devices, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland Galway, H91 CF50 Galway, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0002-1246-9573
Athlone Institute of Technology · IEOllscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

β-glucans are complex polysaccharides that are found in several plants and foods, including mushrooms. β-glucans display an array of potentially therapeutic properties. β-glucans have metabolic and gastro-intestinal effects, modulating the gut microbiome, altering lipid and glucose metabolism, reducing cholesterol, leading to their investigation as potential therapies for metabolic syndrome, obesity and diet regulation, gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel, and to reduce cardiovascular and diabetes risk. β-glucans also have immune-modulating effects, leading to their investigation as adjuvant agents for cancers (solid and haematological malignancies), for immune-mediated conditions (e.g., allergic rhinitis, respiratory infections), and to enhance wound healing. The therapeutic potential of β-glucans is evidenced by the fact that two glucan isolates were licensed as drugs in Japan as immune-adjuvant therapy for cancer in 1980. Significant challenges exist to further clinical testing and translation of β-glucans. The diverse range of conditions for which β-glucans are in clinical testing underlines the incomplete understanding of the diverse mechanisms of action of β-glucans, a key knowledge gap. Furthermore, important differences appear to exist in the effects of apparently similar β-glucan preparations, which may be due to differences in sources and extraction procedures, another poorly understood issue. This review will describe the biology, potential mechanisms of action and key therapeutic targets being investigated in clinical trials of β-glucans and identify and discuss the key challenges to successful translation of this intriguing potential therapeutic.

Indexed as

biomedicineclinical trialsimmunomodulationmetabolismβ-glucan

Identifiers

PMID33322069
PMCPMC7770584
OpenAlexW3113358206

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.