SynthesisPeerJ2026
Intermittent fasting for rheumatic diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of conflicting evidence from observational studies and randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in PeerJ, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Intermittent fasting (IF) has emerged as a dietary approach with potential therapeutic effects that is gaining recognition. Although several studies have explored the impact of IF on clinical symptoms in patients with rheumatic diseases, a quantitative synthesis of the existing evidence is lacking. This study aims to systematically evaluate the overall effects of IF on disease activity and inflammatory markers in patients with rheumatic diseases. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and The Cochrane Library for clinical studies examining intermittent fasting interventions in rheumatic diseases, with a search deadline of March 15, 2026. RevMan 5.4 software was utilized to perform a meta-analysis on the studies that met the inclusion criteria. Results: A total of seven independent studies (yielding nine datasets) were included in the analysis, comprising 471 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 85 patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA). The results indicated that observational studies, which provide a lower level of evidence, demonstrated significant improvements in disease activity scores associated with intermittent fasting ( Conclusion: These findings suggest a positive effect of intermittent fasting on disease activity, as indicated by both observational studies and RCTs. However, the reliability of the conclusions drawn from RCTs is limited due to the small number of studies and considerable heterogeneity in the interventions. There is an urgent need for more rigorously designed RCTs to further validate these results.
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