Evidence mapPaperPMID 28130771Full record

ArticleDiabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders2017

Effects of Acarbose on the Gut Microbiota of Prediabetic Patients: A Randomized, Double-blind, Controlled Crossover Trial.

Xiuying Zhang, Zhiwei Fang, Chunfang Zhang, Huihua Xia, Zhuye Jie, Xueyao Han, Yingli Chen, Linong Ji

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Diabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
95citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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

95 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 176 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Roles of the gut microbiome in weight management.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023
    Pooled it
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  4. Trial
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  6. Consumption of yacon flour and energy-restricted diet increased the relative abundance of intestinal bacteria in obese adults.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2023
    Trial
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  8. Effects of Konjaku Flour on the Gut Microbiota of Obese Patients.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Gut microbes · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
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  15. The Japanese gut microbiome: ecology, uniqueness, and impact on health and disease.Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Series B, Physical and biological sciences · 2026
    Review
  16. The Modulatory Effects ofInternational journal of endocrinology and metabolism · 2025
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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 4 institutions in 1 country.

Xiuying ZhangDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Diabetes Centre, Beijing, 100044, China.
Zhiwei FangInstitute for Systems Biology, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, China.
Chunfang ZhangDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, 100044, China.
Huihua XiaBGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China.
Zhuye JieBGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China.
Xueyao HanDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Diabetes Centre, Beijing, 100044, China.
Yingli ChenDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Diabetes Centre, Beijing, 100044, China.
Linong JiDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Diabetes Centre, Beijing, 100044, China. jiln@bjmu.edu.cn.
Peking University People's Hospital · CNBGI Group (China) · CNPeking University · CNJianghan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe α-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose is an efficacious medicine for the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the response of gut microbiota to acarbose is important, as the microbiota may have a critical role in the development of metabolic diseases, and acarbose is metabolized exclusively within the gastrointestinal tract. We explored the changes in the proportion and diversity of gut microbiota before and after treatment with acarbose in patients with prediabetes.

methodsWe designed a randomized, double-blind, controlled crossover trial in which 52 Chinese patients with prediabetes by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with a BMI of 18-35 kg/m

resultsOf the 52 participants who entered the study, 40 (76.9%) completed the protocol. On the basis of the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) profiles, a total of 107 OTUs were significantly altered after acarbose treatment, with 76 (71%) assigned to the order of Clostridiales. Ruminococcaceae (15 OTUs) and Lachnospiraceae (22 OTUs) decreased in response to acarbose, and 48 OTUs increased by 12.8-fold, including Lactobacillaceae (8 of 9 belonging to Lactobacillus), Ruminococcaceae (6 of 11 belonging to Faecalibacterium), and Veillonellaceae (8 of 15 belonging to Dialister). At genera level, five flourished after treatment with acarbose, including Lactobacillus and Dialister, while Butyricicoccus, Phascolarctobacterium, and Ruminococcus were inhibited.

conclusionThis study suggests that the benefits of acarbose for T2DM may correlate with the selective modulation of the gut microbiota.

trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Register number, ChiCTR-TTRCC-13004112.

Indexed as

AcarboseCardiovascular diseaseGut microfloraPrediabetesType 2 diabetes

Identifiers

PMID28130771
PMCPMC5380489
OpenAlexW2582063035

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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 Socratic graph.