Trial reportAlternative therapies in health and medicine
Policosanol for managing human immunodeficiency virus-related dyslipidemia in a medically underserved population: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in Alternative therapies in health and medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of policosanol supplementation on creatinine: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Fish Oil on HIV-Related Inflammation and Markers of Immunosenescence: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2018Trial
- Inflammation and intestinal leakiness in older HIV+ individuals with fish oil treatment.Genes & diseases · 2018Article
- Food Ingredients That Inhibit Cholesterol Absorption.Preventive nutrition and food science · 2017Review
- Characterization of rice bran wax policosanol and its nanoemulsion formulation.International journal of nanomedicine · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with dyslipidemia and increased risk for cardiovascular events; however, the use ofstatins in HIV-infected people is complicated by pharmacokinetic interactions and overlapping toxicities with antiretroviral medications. Policosanol is a dietary supplement derived from sugar cane that is widely used as a statin alternative in Latin America. PRIMARY STUDY
objectiveTo collect feasibility data on sugar cane-derived policosanol to normalize dyslipidemic profiles in a sample of medically underserved HIV-infected people. METHODS/
designRandomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial.
settingTwo infectious disease outpatient clinics located in a Health Resources Service Administration-designated medically underserved neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois.
participantsFifty-four clinically stable HIV-infected people (91% black) with at least one lipid abnormality that warranted dietary modifications and/or drug therapy.
interventionParticipants received either 20 mg/day of policosanol or placebo for 12 weeks, followed by a 4-week washout and crossover to the other arm. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Efficacy measures included the standard lipid panel (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-derived lipoprotein particle profiles. Safety measures included CD4+ T lymphocyte counts, plasma HIV ribonucleic acid levels, serum creatinine, and liver function tests.
resultsPolicosanol supplementation was not associated with normalization of any dyslipidemic parameters as measured by the standard lipid panel or NMR spectroscopy-measured lipoprotein size or concentration. The supplement was well tolerated and was not associated with any changes in parameters of HIV disease progression.
conclusionsOur findings corroborate recent studies conducted outside Cuba that have failed to find any lipid modulatory effects for policosanol.
Indexed as
Identifiers
21717822PMC3654198W161722948What Socratic holds
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 Socratic graph.