Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38424572›Full record

Trial reportBMC complementary medicine and therapies2024

Effects of Spirulina supplementation in patients with ulcerative colitis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial.

Sajjad Moradi, Reza Bagheri, Parsa Amirian, Mahsa Zarpoosh, Neda Cheraghloo, Alexei Wong, Mehdi Zobeiri, Mohammad Hassan Entezari

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07609810 (The Effect of Palmitoylethanolamide on the Clinical Outcomes in Ulcerative Colitis Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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.

NCT07609810 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

The Effect of Palmitoylethanolamide on the Clinical Outcomes in Ulcerative Colitis Patients

TypeinterventionalSponsorAin Shams UniversityRan2026 to 2029Enrolled60ConditionsUlcerative Colitis (UC)ArmsPalmitoylethanolamide (PEA), Placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

8 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Sajjad MoradiDepartment of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Research Center for Evidence-Based Health Management, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, Iran.
Reza BagheriDepartment of Exercise Physiology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, 8174673441, Iran.
Parsa AmirianGeneral Practitioner, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Kermanshah, Iran.
Mahsa ZarpooshGeneral Practitioner, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Kermanshah, Iran.
Neda CheraghlooDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1417613151, Iran.
Alexei WongDepartment of Health and Human Performance, Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA.
Mehdi ZobeiriDepartment of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Mohammad Hassan EntezariDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. entezari@hlth.mui.ac.ir.
Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences · IRIsfahan University of Medical Sciences · IRMarymount University · USTehran University of Medical Sciences · IRUniversity of Isfahan · IRUniversity of Maragheh · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimWe conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of Spirulina (SP) supplementation on disease activity, health-related quality of life, antioxidant status, and serum pentraxin 3 (PTX-3) levels in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).

methodsEighty patients with UC were randomly assigned to consume either 1 g/day (two 500 mg capsules/day) of SP (n = 40) or control (n = 40) for 8 weeks. Dietary intakes, physical activity, disease activity, health-related quality of life, antioxidant status, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and serum PTX-3 levels were assessed and compared between groups at baseline and post-intervention.

resultsSeventy-three patients (91.3%) completed the trial. We observed increases in serum total antioxidant capacity levels in the SP supplementation group compared to the control group after 8 weeks of intervention (p ≤ 0.001). A within-group comparison indicated a trend towards a higher health-related quality of life score after 8 weeks of taking two different supplements, SP (p < 0.001) and PL (p = 0.012), respectively. However, there were no significant changes in participant's disease activity score in response to SP administration (p > 0.05). Similarly, changes in ESR and PTX-3 levels were comparable between groups post-intervention (p > 0.05).

conclusionsSP improved antioxidant capacity status and health-related quality of life in patients with UC. Our findings suggest that SP supplementation may be effective as an adjuvant treatment for managing patients with UC. Larger trials with longer interventions periods are required to confirm our findings.

Indexed as

Colitis, UlcerativeSpirulinaAntioxidantsDietary SupplementsHumansQuality of LifeAntioxidantsHealth-related quality of lifeOxidative stressSpirulinaUlcerative colitis

Identifiers

PMID38424572
PMCPMC10905931
OpenAlexW4392298572

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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.