ReviewSage open pediatrics
Efficacy of Oral Arginine as Treatment to Improve Height in Prepubertal Children With Idiopathic Short Stature: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Sage open pediatrics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Arginine can stimulate growth hormone production. However, a synthesis of the evidence on the effect in children's height is lacking. Objectives: To systematically evaluate the efficacy of oral arginine in improving height in prepubertal children with idiopathic short stature. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources and methods: We included clinical trials and cohort studies. We searched in 7 databases until May 31, 2025. Effects were pooled using standardized mean differences (SMDs) and re-expressed as mean differences (MDs). Results: We only found low-quality studies. Oral arginine administered for 6 or 12 months increased growth velocity (SMD 0.66, 95% CI 0.21-1.12), but the benefit was clinically small (re-expressed MD 0.59 cm/year [95% CI 0.19-1.00]), and the effect was not statistically significant when administered for exclusively 12 months. Conclusion: Oral arginine administered for 12 months may not affect growth. Well-designed RCTs are required. Registration: PROSPERO (CRD42024503778).
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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 Socratic graph.