Tart cherry intake and serum uric acid: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and evidence from network pharmacology

Zhang Z, Feng Z, Yan W, Wu T, Xia J, Yu J, Yang J, Wang Y, Sun G · Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Pooled across four trials, tart cherry lowered serum uric acid by a standardized mean difference of -0.22 (95% CI -0.43 to -0.01) — a confidence interval that stops just short of zero, with substantial heterogeneity between trials.

Population

Participants in 4 randomized trials, 8 comparisons

Intervention

Tart cherry in any form

Comparator

Placebo or usual diet

Limitations

Four trials totalling 392 people is a thin base for a pooled estimate, and the heterogeneity is described by the authors as substantial. The network-pharmacology half is computational target prediction, not evidence of an effect in a person.