Effect of curcumin nanomicelle on the clinical symptoms of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized, double‐blind, controlled trial

Abstract

Aim Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease. In recent years, new drugs with novel targets have been developed to increase the efficacy of drugs in the treatment of RA. Curcumin has shown potent anti‐inflammatory effects and is considered an anti‐tumor necrosis factor. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of curcumin nanomicelle on the clinical symptoms of patients with RA. Methods This randomized, double‐blind, controlled trial selected 65 eligible RA patients and randomly divided them into a curcumin nanomicelle group (n = 30) and a placebo group (n = 35). Curcumin nanomicelle (40 mg) and placebo capsules were administrated to the RA patients 3 times a day for 12 weeks. The Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS‐28) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. Results The DAS‐28, tender joint count (TJC) and swollen joint count (SJC) at baseline and the end of the study were not significant between the curcumin nanomicelle and placebo groups. After the intervention, the within‐group DAS‐28, TJC and SJC in the curcumin nanomicelle and placebo groups reduced significantly compared to the baseline. The difference in changes between the two groups was not significant. Nonetheless, this change was greater in the case group than in the placebo group. No significant changes were observed in terms of ESR between the two groups of RA patients. Conclusion Adding curcumin nanomicelle to the RA patients’ medication led to some positive changes in the DAS‐28, IJC and SJC, although not significantly.

Medical and pharmacokinetic effects of nanopolyphenols: A systematic review of clinical trials

“…This, therefore, means that both ginger extract and curcumin may offer an alternative to NSAIDS for patients with knee osteoarthritis who are experiencing negative side effects from standard treatments (Hewlings & Kalman, 2017). The use of nanocurcumin by patients with rheumatoid arthritis was, however, not as promising as no significant differences were observed between the nanocurcumin and control groups (Javadi, Haghighian, Goodarzy, Abbasi, & Nassiri‐Asl, 2019).…”

“…Adverse events reported after the use of nanopolyphenols in the included studies were minimal. Of the 18 studies that provided this information, a total of 12 studies reported no adverse effects during or after treatment (Abdolahi et al., 2018; Afshar et al., 2020; Alizadeh et al., 2018; Amorndoljai et al., 2017; Delavarian et al., 2019; Dolati, Aghebati‐Maleki et al., 2018; Farhadi et al., 2018; Gallelli et al., 2020; Hashemzadeh et al., 2020; Javadi et al., 2019; Parohan et al., 2019; Sasaki et al., 2011). Mild adverse events reported include stomachache (Asadi et al., 2019; Asadi, Gholami, Siassi, Qorbani et al., 2019) and nausea (Jazayeri‐Tehrani et al., 2019).…”

Efficacy of Dietary Supplements in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Related Autoimmune Diseases

“…A larger trial with 300 patients with mild-to-moderate UC did not find a significant clinical benefit when using much lower doses of curcumin (450 mg/day) [ 84 ]. Larger, randomized controlled trials in RA using moderate doses of curcumin (from 120 mg to 1.2 g a day) demonstrated an improvement in clinical disease activity scores, tender joint count, and swollen joint count [ 52 , 85 , 86 ]. Though clinical trials of curcumin use in psoriatic disease are limited, in vitro studies suggest a potential benefit [ 87 ].…”

Food-Derived Nanoscopic Drug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…Therefore, nanomicelles enable prolonged circulation, reduced administered dose, and diminished toxicity of therapeutics. Such advantages of nanomicelles have been proved by a clinical trial in which RA patients orally undertaking the curcumin nanomicelles exhibited positive changes in joint scores, tender joint count, and swollen joint count [24].…”