Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35809130›Full record

SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2022

Human tissue lead (Pb) levels and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.

Cristiano Farace, Giovanni Fiorito, Andrea Pisano, Federica Etzi, Angela Sabalic, Grazia Fenu, Yolande Asara, Giuliana Solinas, Roberto Madeddu

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 19% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
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

9 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Cristiano Farace *Department of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Giovanni Fiorito *Department of Biomedical Science-Hygiene, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
Andrea PisanoDepartment of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy. pisanoandrea87@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6050-2756
Federica EtziDepartment of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Angela SabalicDepartment of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Grazia FenuDepartment of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Yolande AsaraDepartment of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Giuliana Solinas *Department of Biomedical Science-Hygiene, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
Roberto Madeddu *Department of Biomedical Sciences-Histology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43b, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
University of Sassari · IT

Funding

Università degli Studi di Sassari FAR-2020
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo combine the current scientific literature evidence and elucidate the differences of lead (Pb) bioaccumulation in human tissues by comparing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and healthy controls.

methodsWe systematically searched for case-control studies on the association of Pb levels with ALS, in human cells, tissues, and body fluids (nervous tissue, muscle, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, skin appendages). Then, we performed a meta-analysis for all the tissues in which at least five case-control studies were available: whole blood (9 studies), serum/plasma (5 studies), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (6 studies). Differences between cases and controls were evaluated using standardized mean difference, and combined estimates were derived using random effect maximum likelihood (REML) meta-analyses.

resultsAmong 1734 records, we identified 46 full-text studies, of which 14 case-control studies met the meta-analysis inclusion criteria. We found higher Pb levels in ALS cases than controls in blood (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.61; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.20, 1.01; p = 0.003), plasma/serum (SMD = 0.27; 95% CI - 0.16, 0.70; p = 0.26), and CSF (SMD = 0.53; 95% CI - 0.09, 1.15; p = 0.09).

conclusionsThis work provides further evidence of the association between Pb bioaccumulation and ALS in body fluids. The lack of association studies in solid tissues did not allow a robust meta-analysis. Future prospective studies are needed to clarify the causality in the association of Pb bioaccumulation with ALS.

Indexed as

Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesHumansLeadBiomarkersLeadAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)BloodCerebrospinal fluid (CSF)Lead (Pb)Meta-analysisPlasma

Identifiers

PMID35809130
PMCPMC9474539
OpenAlexW4284993307

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.