Network Meta-Analysis of ALS Therapies: Efficacy and Safety from 109 Trials

Shixun Zhou's document presents a network meta-analysis of pharmacological and biological therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The analysis includes 109 randomized controlled trials involving 16,353 participants, with data sourced from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science up to February 25, 2025. The study compares interventions on outcomes like the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised, forced vital capacity, mortality, and serious adverse events.

Use Cases

• Comparing the relative efficacy of different drug classes for ALS based on the network meta-analysis results.
• Assessing the safety profiles of pharmacological and biological interventions based on reported serious adverse events.
• Identifying promising therapeutic combinations, such as cell therapy with neuroprotective agents, for further clinical investigation.
• Conducting subgroup analyses on specific agents like masitinib or talampanel mentioned in the results.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on 109 randomized controlled trials, providing a substantial evidence base.
• Includes data from 16,353 participants, offering a significant sample size for meta-analysis.
• Employs a Bayesian network meta-analysis methodology, allowing for comparative effectiveness rankings.
• Registered as a systematic review (PROSPERO CRD420251000672), which suggests a structured protocol.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 66.6 KB DOCX document, which is a very small text file and likely contains only the analysis manuscript, not the underlying trial data.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics and raw data must be inferred or are unavailable.
• The description does not specify the temporal range of the included trials, only the search date.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Shixun Zhou.

Collection Method

Systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials from medical databases.

Time Range

Trials searched until February 25, 2025; temporal coverage of included trials is not specified.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-24 13:39:32; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Spatial coverage of the included trials is not specified.