SynthesisPloS one2025
Effects of additional oral theophylline with inhaled therapy in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy and safety of ensifentrine in treatment of COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.Therapeutic advances in respiratory diseasePooled it
- A longitudinal study on the correlation between symptom clusters and disease-specific health status in older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during pulmonary rehabilitation.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The rationale for additional treatment of oral theophylline with inhaled therapy in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unclear. The databases including The Cochrane Library､PubMed､Embase and Web of Science were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving the inhaled therapy plus additional theophylline therapy for the treatment of patients with stable COPD up to December 31, 2023. The forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)､forced expiratory volume in 1s% predicted (FEV1% pred)､forced vital capacity (FVC)､FEV1/FVC%､peak expiratory flow rate(PEFR)､exacerbation rate of COPD､COPD related hospital admissions､total symptom score and drug-related adverse reactions were extracted from literatures and the meta-analysis was conducted using the RevMan 5.4 software. 10 RCTs involving 2771 patients were included. The meta-analysis results showed that additional theophylline improved FEV1 with MD 0.08 (95% CI: 0.06 to 0.09, p<0.00001)､FVC with MD 0.13 (95% CI: 0.10 to 0.15, p<0.00001), reduce the risk of exacerbation rate with OR 0.75 (95% CI: 0.60 to 0.94, p=0.01) and COPD related hospital admissions with MD -0.07 (95% CI: -0.13 to -0.01, p=0.01). However, there was no significant difference in FEV1% pred with MD 0.45 (95% CI: -1.41 to 2.30, p=0.64)､FEV1/FVC% with MD -0.24 (95% CI: -3.26 to 2.79, p=0.88) and total symptom score with MD -0.03 (95% CI: -0.14 to 0.09, p=0.65). Furthermore, additional theophylline therapy induced a high incidence of drug-related adverse reactions with OR 1.33 (95% CI: 1.12 to 1.58, p=0.001), especially in gastrointestinal adverse reactions. Oral theophylline could be a supplementary therapeutic option when inhaled therapy is insufficient regarding of improvement in pulmonary function and reducing in exacerbation risk. However, additional theophylline therapy could increase the risk of drug-related adverse reactions and should be concerned.
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