Clinical Effects of Korean Red Ginseng in Postmenopausal Women With Hand Osteoarthritis: A Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Although many menopausal Asian women use herbal remedies for joint pain, there are no studies evaluating the efficacy of Korean red ginseng on osteoarthritis symptoms in postmenopausal women. The purpose of this study is to analyze antioxidant enzyme activity, oxidative stress markers, and pain scores before and after red ginseng consumption, to assess its effect in postmenopausal women. Methods. This prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial enrolled 52 postmenopausal women who presented with hand edema and/or pain and were diagnosed as degenerative arthritis of the hand. Patients were randomly assigned to the red ginseng (RG) group (supplemented with 3 g/d of RG for 12 weeks) or the placebo group. Changes in pain and Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) scores, antioxidant enzyme, oxidative stress markers, serum estradiol levels, and endometrial thickness were analyzed. Results. The pain score and DASH score were significantly improved in the RG group (both p < 0.05). The improvement of pain score at rest, during work or sport, and DASH score was significant compared to that of the placebo group. The superoxide dismutase level increased (p < 0.05) and the malondialdehyde level decreased (p < 0.05) significantly in the RG group, while none of the antioxidative factors showed a significant change in the placebo group. Serum estradiol levels and endometrial thickness were not affected by RG supplementation. Conclusion. RG may be an effective dietary supplement for postmenopausal women with degenerative osteoarthritis of the hand. It may relieve pain and improve antioxidative activity without the risk of endometrial thickening.

Network Pharmacology of Ginseng (Part III): Antitumor Potential of a Fixed Combination of Red Ginseng and Red Sage as Determined by Transcriptomics

“…Figures 2-4 show the potential effects of RG-RS on the canonical signaling pathways, cellular and physiological functions, and aging-related diseases, particularly the inhibition of the osteoarthritis signaling pathway where the probability of prediction is significant (−log p-value 1.7, z-score -3.2; Supplementary Table S6 and Supplementary Figure S1). That is in line with other studies of RG and RS where the potential health effect of Reg Ginseng [63][64][65][66][67] and Red Sage [68][69][70][71][72] in osteoarthritis was demonstrated.…”

Effects of ginseng consumption on the biomarkers of oxidative stress: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Of the 806 participants in these studies, 415 were randomly assigned to the ginseng‐related intervention group and 391 were administered a placebo. These studies were primarily conducted in Korea (Chung et al, 2021; Kim et al, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021; Kim & Lee, 2001; Sung et al, 2020), China (Ma et al, 2008; Xu et al, 2017), United States (Dickman et al, 2009), and Iraq (Al‐Kuraishy & Al‐Gareeb, 2017) between 2001 and 2021. The participant characteristics of these studies included healthy individuals (Al‐Kuraishy & Al‐Gareeb, 2017; Kim et al, 2011, 2012), premenopausal women (Chung et al, 2021; Dickman et al, 2009; Seo et al, 2014), patients with chronic fatigue (Kim et al, 2013; Sung et al, 2020), premenopausal women with osteoarthritis (Kim et al, 2021), patients with chronic kidney disease (Xu et al, 2017), smokers (Kim & Lee, 2001), and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (Ma et al, 2008).…”

“…These studies were primarily conducted in Korea (Chung et al, 2021; Kim et al, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021; Kim & Lee, 2001; Sung et al, 2020), China (Ma et al, 2008; Xu et al, 2017), United States (Dickman et al, 2009), and Iraq (Al‐Kuraishy & Al‐Gareeb, 2017) between 2001 and 2021. The participant characteristics of these studies included healthy individuals (Al‐Kuraishy & Al‐Gareeb, 2017; Kim et al, 2011, 2012), premenopausal women (Chung et al, 2021; Dickman et al, 2009; Seo et al, 2014), patients with chronic fatigue (Kim et al, 2013; Sung et al, 2020), premenopausal women with osteoarthritis (Kim et al, 2021), patients with chronic kidney disease (Xu et al, 2017), smokers (Kim & Lee, 2001), and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (Ma et al, 2008). The main types of ginseng interventions were P. ginseng (Kim et al, 2013; Kim & Lee, 2001; Ma et al, 2008; Sung et al, 2020), Korean red ginseng (Chung et al, 2021; Kim et al, 2012, 2021; Kim & Lee, 2001; Seo et al, 2014), American ginseng (Dickman et al, 2009) and the ginseng active substance, Ginsenoside Rb1 (Xu et al, 2017), as the study products, with average daily doses ranging from 0.5 to 6 g and period of intervention from 4 to 48 weeks.…”

“…No studies have reported on the antioxidant effects of ginseng on other oxidative stress‐related diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, and hypertension. This meta‐analysis included only a small number of participant disease categories, including chronic kidney disease (Xu et al, 2017), osteoarthritis (Kim et al, 2021), smoking (Kim & Lee, 2001), type 2 diabetes mellitus (Ma et al, 2008), chronic fatigue (Kim et al, 2013; Sung et al, 2020), menopausal women (Chung et al, 2021; Dickman et al, 2009; Seo et al, 2014), and healthy individuals (Al‐Kuraishy & Al‐Gareeb, 2017; Kim et al, 2011, 2012). Nonetheless, Jung et al found that patients with metabolic syndrome who consumed ginseng for 4 weeks showed a decrease in the number of mitochondrial DNA replications (Jung et al, 2016).…”

“…Studies that required reading of the full text (n = 38) were screened by removing duplicate studies (n = 808) and reviewing studies with irrelevant titles and abstracts (n = 1098). Ultimately, 12 studies were included in the meta-analysis (Al-Kuraishy & Al-Gareeb, 2017;Chung et al, 2021;Dickman et al, 2009;Kim et al, 2011Kim et al, , 2012Kim et al, , 2013Kim et al, , 2021Kim & Lee, 2001;Ma et al, 2008;Seo et al, 2014;Sung et al, 2020;Xu et al, 2017), the specific characteristics of which are shown in Table 1.…”