Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35153479›Full record

Trial reportInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Blood Eosinophils in Chinese COPD Participants and Response to Treatment with Combination Low-Dose Theophylline and Prednisone: A Post-Hoc Analysis of the TASCS Trial.

Thomas Bradbury, Gian Luca Di Tanna, Anish Scaria, Allison Martin, Fu-Qiang Wen, Nan-Shan Zhong, Jin-Ping Zheng, Peter J Barnes, Bartolome Celli, Norbert Berend and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 44% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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

12 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Thomas BradburyRespiratory Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7589-2144
Gian Luca Di TannaRespiratory Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-5470-3567
Anish ScariaRespiratory Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.
Allison MartinRespiratory Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.
Fu-Qiang WenWest China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
Nan-Shan ZhongState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Centre for Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Jin-Ping ZhengState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Centre for Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0002-7511-661X
Peter J BarnesNational Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK.
Bartolome CelliPulmonary and Critical Care Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Norbert BerendRespiratory Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.
Christine R JenkinsRespiratory Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2717-5647
TASCS Investigators
The George Institute for Global Health · AUFirst Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University · CNBrigham and Women's Hospital · USImperial College London · GBSichuan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectivesThe burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) disproportionately affects patients in low to middle-income countries. Although the Theophylline and Steroids in COPD Study (TASCS) showed no clinical benefit from administering low-dose theophylline and prednisone in COPD patients compared to placebo, it was hypothesized that those with elevated blood eosinophil counts would receive clinical benefit from the intervention.

methodsThis was a post-hoc analysis of the TASCS dataset - a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial conducted in patients with moderate-severe COPD in China. Participants were allocated 1:1:1 to low-dose oral theophylline (100mg bd) and prednisone (5mg qd; PrT), theophylline (100mg bd) and prednisone-matched placebo (TP), or double-matched placebo (DP) groups and followed-up for 48 weeks. A baseline count of ≥300 eosinophils/µL blood was categorized as elevated/eosinophilic, and the primary outcome was the annualized moderate-severe exacerbation rate.

resultsOf 1487 participants eligible for analysis, 325 (22%) were eosinophilic. These participants were predominantly male (82%), had a mean (SD) age of 64 (±8) years and a predicted forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV

conclusionCombination low-dose theophylline and prednisone was associated with a significant increase in the annual moderate-severe exacerbation rate in participants with a blood eosinophil count ≥300 cells/µL compared to placebo.

Indexed as

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveTheophyllineAgedBronchodilator AgentsDouble-Blind MethodEosinophilsFemaleForced Expiratory VolumeHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrednisoneBronchodilator AgentsPrednisoneTheophyllineChinaclinical trialCOPDeosinophilprednisonetheophylline

Identifiers

PMID35153479
PMCPMC8827641
OpenAlexW4210515722

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.